Risen in Patria
by Rochoa
Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred, with demons and humans hateful of each other. Now, the fallen lord Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi. Together, the two must decipher the kingdom's history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.
1. World of a Thousand Lies

**Risen in Patria**

Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred with demons and humans hateful of each other. Now the fallen Taisho Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi. Together, the two must decipher the kingdom's history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.

WARNINGS: Implied character death, language, explicit sexual content, OOC, rape/non-consensual sex, underage sex, implied torture

Please heed the warnings! If you don't like, don't read!

_World of a Thousand Lies_

After decades of waiting, a gathering of great importance was finally taking place, thought Naraku to himself as he stared past the four still figures in front of him. He took in the brilliant blend of yellows, reds and dusty gold sun rays heating the world outside the abandoned shack in which he knew history would be made. He looked down, bringing his eyes back at the four in front of him, four who were all desperate for something, four whom he would now use to his advantage.

"I believe I have something that you all desire. It's not my place to tell the others what each one seeks, and I know that you have all had your disputes, but I will give you all what you want if you can work together to carry out a very specific set of instructions."

Four sets of eyes, both human and demon stared back into his, two hard, hateful and unchanging, the other two devious and sinister. He held back a smirk. A demon, two trained killers and a bandit with a heart as black as his own. Yes, they would do.

"I will tell you each step of the way what you must accomplish. No more, no less. But I will tell you now that there is no stopping once you've begun, or I will ensure you lose far more than you already have." One of them gave him a glare so intense he could have sworn she was killing him right then in her mind. No matter, he thought.

Ignoring her entirely, he waved his hand to the cracked door at their sides, finally allowing the smirk he had been suppressing to make its way onto his face. They couldn't actually leave, he knew, but he wanted to make the gesture, if only as a little joke for himself. When they remained seated, his smirk became a grin and he dropped his hand to his side. "Good, good. I'm glad to have you all by my side."

Naraku pulled out a tiny vial from his coat and allowed them to get a good glimpse of the clear liquid within. "Our darling prince, we've all heard of him I presume." If possible, the same woman who glared at him earlier radiated even greater hatred at the mention of the prince. "How we love him so."

He sat down in front of the four, placing the veil on the floor before them. "Now, for our first task, his coronation..."

* * *

A million little lights danced across the moonlit sky, even more beautiful under the dim glow of the red lanterns sitting throughout the garden. Sango had never wanted more to be one of those lucky "noble" women who could sit idly by and drink in the light, the absolute beauty of the palace. Unfortunately, she'd learned quickly that kitchen maids and servers weren't allowed the time to meander and enjoy. A large pot and basket in hand, she darted through the shadows - after all, the noblemen needed the illusion that food magically and easily appeared on their tables - getting fleeting glimpses of the beautiful full moon under the stars.

She reached the main kitchen in record time and quickly handed off all the ingredients and tools she had been asked to collect. The head chef gave an approving smile and nodded gratefully. "Not bad for a new worker, Sango. Good job."

"Thanks, Kaede-sama." Kaede, the head chef, was perhaps the kindest and most genuine people she had met so far in the King's castle. Any sort of praise from her was something to look forward to.

Another chef quickly spun her around and thrust a number of dishes into her plate. "To the crowning room. Now," the man said with a strange accent Sango couldn't place. She nodded and darted off into the shadows, crossing the beautiful garden once more.

As she entered the crowning room, she held back her gasp. Colorful cloths, flowers, and silks danced across the walls and tables. Porcelain from the mainland and glasses so clear and glistening she feared she would be blinded by their shine sat upon the dinner table. And at the center of the room, behind the feasting table, Sango could see the throne, decorated with red and gold silks, radiant lanterns and, at the center, a chair made of solid gold.

It was strange for Sango, having seen all the death and decay and suffering around the kingdom, to be thrust into a world of splendor and opulence, even if she was a mere kitchen server.

Another server boy waved her over hurriedly, snapping her out of her daze. As she set the dishes, she thought to herself that she had never seen anything so extravagant or luxurious in her whole life. Of course, she knew it was to be expected. The young prince, while he was known to have quite the mind for fighting and warfare and not for money, was fortunate to have in his high council a man supposedly so wealthy that he bathed in gold coins every night.

Holding the steaming plates in hand, she moved to the side of the table, where the noblemen and women began to take their seats. A handsome man near the head of the table waved his clothed arm and everyone took their seat, save the prince himself, who had yet to make his appearance. Sango took that as her cue and moved forward to set the dishes down.

She stepped back into the shadows and let the other servers have a chance at setting down their dishes. Apparently no one dared touch their meal because the noblemen continued chatting idly with their seat partners until a hush fell over the room.

The prince, a young man, made his way to the banquet table from a set of stairs behind the throne. She wanted to catch a glimpse of his face, but Sango and the rest of the servers had to bow down until he reached his seat. There was dead silence before the man at the prince's side waved his arm jovially, signaling the start of the feast.

Both the servers and the noblemen suddenly reanimated and loud chatter filled the room, whether from excitement at the sight of the young prince or from their nervousness as he first entered the room. Sango had no time for such things.

She spun around, intending to head back into the kitchen, but halted as she came face to face with a kitchen maid.

"This one is special. For the prince, himself. No one else." The girl spoke with the same thick, foreign accent as the man from before. She was new, Sango thought, just like her. She remembered training for kitchen duty together.

Sango took the plate, looked in mild confusion at the girl who was swiftly turning away, and did as she was asked.

* * *

Miroku lived for laughter, feasts and beautiful women. He couldn't be happier as he sat at the right hand side of his best friend and the prince, soon to be Taisho, drinking in the chatter, perfumes and rich wines.

The prince, who had been chatting with a few of his advisors and loyal lords at the side, turned to him and asked, "So, Miroku, what do you think of my little party?"

"Depends. Does the loving connection between my head and my shoulders rely on my answer?" The prince laughed and threw a half-hearted punch and Miroku chuckled in return at his joke. "Of course. It is probably the best party of the century. I wouldn't expect anything less from you though."

"Good, good. A Taisho has to start his reign well," he said, suddenly turning serious.

"From what I hear, you've already gotten busy with new plans."

The prince nodded with conviction. "Ha. I'm happy to hear the war councilors have been gossiping again," he said sarcastically. "Anyway, my first order of business will be to rid the whole kingdom of every fucking demon I can find," the prince spoke with hatred, quietly but deeply to Miroku, ensuring that no one else could hear their conversation.

Miroku was taken aback. He knew his friend hated demons, but he wouldn't have imagined... "That is...ambitious, my Lord. Is it prudent, though, I wonder." Miroku watched as he rolled his eyes, clearly used to and tired of Miroku's more peaceful outlook.

"Everything the Taisho does is prudent, my friend, especially when it concerns killing savage beasts." Miroku didn't bother arguing, as he didn't want to be the one putting the prince in a bad mood on such a special occasion. The prince lightened up considerably and said, "Second, I have to find myself a lovely wife." He waved his arm toward the table of nobles. "You've got to pick one soon too, you know."

Thankfully, that was a topic Miroku was comfortable with. "Oh no. The great Miroku could never settle down with just one woman," he joked, and the advisors around him who were now listening to their conversations laughed. "What about you? Anyone in mind?"

The prince raised his glass of wine, peering over the edge at the rows of women with mischievous grey eyes. "Yes, in fact I do." He pointed to one of the ladies far down the table.

Miroku turned to search for her face and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw whom the prince was pointing at. She was beautiful. He had no idea who she was, and while it was clear that she wasn't of particularly high birth since she sat so far down the table, a girl with a face like that needed no name or lands. Men would go to war for a face like that, Miroku thought.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by the gasp of one of the councilor's at the prince's left. "My Lord, you can't mean Lady Higurashi can you?"

"A Higurashi?" Miroku asked in shock. The Higurashi family had been one of the most influential families in the entire realm for many years, though long before his time, with the many of them serving on the high council of the previous king, until an unfortunate demon attack some years ago had nearly decimated the entire family.

"Yes," the councilor nodded seriously. "From what I know, that's Lady Kikyo's younger sister, Lady Kagome."

The prince turned to his councilor with a raised eyebrow. "Why did you react that way when I pointed at her? I've watched her during the past few celebrations we've hosted, and I like what I see," he said with a smirk.

The councilor suddenly squirmed, immensely uncomfortable under the prince's piercing gaze. "Well, my Lord...there are rumors." His eyebrow remained raised. "Some have said that she is...wild, not at all like a Lady."

"How so?" Miroku's curiosity was peaked. She seemed the very epitome of beauty and grace as she sat there, laughing with her friends at the table.

"I've heard that she prays to no gods" - when neither the prince nor Miroku looked too impressed, he lowered his voice - "none at all! Some say that she hunts in the forests in leather! I've heard that -" He cut himself off, as if realizing what he was about to say wasn't wise to say aloud. The prince's eyes narrowed, and the man continued nervously "...that she has lost her maidenhood and does nothing to hide it!" The councilor sounded positively scandalized and watched cautiously as the prince leaned back to consider these rumors.

Miroku looked at the prince, who seemed to be formulating a response, and back at the tense councilor who had gone completely silent and still as a statue. Deciding to ease the tension, he brought his hand up to rub his nonexistent beard, as if contemplating deeply and picturing his words in his head, and commented, "Running around a forest in nearly nothing, huh? That doesn't sound too bad at all!"

The prince snapped out of his thoughts and chuckled loudly, and even the councilor couldn't help a snicker. The prince sobered quickly, though the mirth remained in his eyes, and addressed the councilor, "I don't care for women's gossip. Even if the rumors were true, the gods do shit for us, why should she have to pray to them? And look, prayer didn't save her family when the demons devoured their bodies. And Miroku's right, nothing bad at all about the second rumor" - he and Miroku shared a quick laugh - "As for the third, it matters little to me. After she is mine, she will _only_ be mine."

The councilor sputtered in outrage. "M-My Lord! That's not how things are done! You must marry right!"

The prince waved him off. "Keh! I will be the most powerful man in the land. The Higurashis may not be the wealthiest or most powerful family anymore, but they own exactly what I would want: the land at the northern borders. I've spent years driving demons out of our lands, and now they have congregated mainly in the northern lands. The Higurashi lands are the perfect place from which we can guard our kingdom."

The councilor began to object when suddenly a gong reverberated throughout the room. It was time for the coronation to begin. The prince excused himself, taking his cue and rising to the center stage, right beneath the golden throne, and allowed the priests to begin the ceremony.

Miroku observed the processions quietly, watching the prince act exactly as he was taught to, courteous, grateful, kind to his subjects. He was the prince's friend, true, but he could see through the act; the prince, while ambitious and kind to his friends, was vicious and cruel towards his enemies or any he considered below him. He cringed as he remembered the dungeons, full of captured demons and decaying bodies. Miroku liked peace, money and prosperity; he was no fan of fighting and war, though he never let the disapproval show on his face. The prince also had the habit of imprisoning those around him who didn't agree with his ways. That was probably a remnant of growing up without real parent figures, Miroku guessed.

The ceremony was over before he knew it, and all the noblemen rose to salute their new Taisho. Now was the time for mingling. The noblemen and women began to move into groups to share the latest gossip and network, and Miroku watched the new Taisho move through the crowd easily to the Lady Kagome he had been eyeing earlier. He moved closer to hear their exchange, joining a group of older noblemen as his guise.

He couldn't make out the words, but she seemed to speak confidently and easily with the Taisho, and her body language seemed friendly, but reserved. Miroku watched in confusion as she suddenly turned to dismiss herself and the Taisho's eyes flared in anger. Afraid something drastic might happen, he rushed over and put his hands on his friends shoulder in the hopes of calming him down.

His hands were roughly pushed off before the Taisho snapped at him, "I'm leaving. Don't fucking let anyone come looking for me."

* * *

A combination of fury and confusion coursed through the Taisho as he stomped furiously down the halls. Kagome Higurashi declining his advances? It was ridiculous, he wanted to scream out. Perhaps there was too much wine in his system, but he didn't care if his anger was irrational. He was now the Taisho, which meant he was allowed what he wanted.

He continued wandering down the halls aimlessly wherever the wind blew him, intent on blowing some steam, but was forced to stop when he reached a completely unfamiliar hallway. His vision began to blur, his blood heating furiously and to the point of pain, and he leaned against the walls for support as he searched out more familiar ways.

Had he been able to focus through the darkness around him, he would have been able to see the pair of glowing red eyes staring at him maliciously as he walked along.

A cold breeze blew through, leaving him simultaneously shivering and burning hot. Nonetheless, he pushed through and found his way to a set of doors, probably guest rooms. With a headache the size of the great seas combined quickly forming, he forced himself slowly through the hallway.

'_The fuck is happening to me?'_ he thought to himself, barely able to stand straight as he walked. He had nearly made it to the end of the hallway when he caught a scent that had him falling to his knees and groaning.

Suddenly, all the heat in his body seemed to flood southward to a very specific, now red and aching part of his body, and all he could think of was how much he needed to be closer to that scent. He turned, half-crazed by desire, to the doors, singling out the slightly open door from which that smell was coming. Entering quietly, unexpectedly in control of his motions, he opened the door silently.

The scent flooded his senses so suddenly that he was barely able to stifle a rabid growl of pure _need_, and he dug his nails deeply into the walls to restrain from giving himself away. His eyes, reddening at their borders, scanned the room and immediately landed on the naked woman at the entrance to her bath room. If possible, the rod between his legs hardened more, straining angrily against his pants. She smelled like heaven itself and his blood pumped furiously through his veins as he stalked silently up to the woman, who had her back to him, completely unaware.

She turned slightly, so that he caught a side view of her breasts, a sight which his tongue was aching to devour, and her profile.

It was none other than Kagome Higurashi. Some feral part of him grinned uncontrollably. The bitch who denied him. Now she would pay.

In moments, he was behind her, throwing one thickly muscled arm around her mouth and the other between her legs to separate her thighs. The woman tried to let out a shriek which was completely muffled by his arm, and struggled wildly against him as he easily carried her back to the bed, slamming her down and climbing on top of her body.

When she finally caught sight of his face, she froze in terror. "T-taisho?" The word rang in his head, unrecognized, and he snarled in anger. The sound snapped her out of her shock and she began struggling anew. "Please, Taisho. D-don't!" There was that word again. He stilled above her, still covering her mouth and body as she squirmed and pushed desperately against him.

He would have spent more time figuring out the unfamiliar word, but the feeling of her soft, nimble body moving and grinding against his was too much. In a swift move, he removed his pants and slammed her chest back down, lowering his mouth to her plump breasts. She screamed again, trying to kick her legs under his and crying out no behind his hands, but she was no match for him even at his normal strength, and now, with the adrenaline and painful need coursing through him...now he felt strong enough to crush her in his grip.

Her small kicks and desperate attempts were futile, but he was sick of her unwillingness. She managed to get her hands out from under his grip, placing them on his shoulders in an attempt to leverage herself out from under his grip. He almost smiled in amusement before a sudden, painful shock ran through his system from her hands. Furiously growling, he angrily placed his forearm over her throat and flexed his hands.

She stilled in terror. "_Bitch_." He growled out impressively for a human, half in anger, half in excitement. As much as she struggled, he could smell her scent growing stronger, more frightened, more _aroused_. Now he just needed her to be still so he could take what was his. "I am taking you whether you like it or not," he rasped out to her trembling form, shoving her legs apart with his knees to emphasize his point. Making sure she was watching his every move, he slowly moved her now limp legs to the sides of her chest and poised his erection at her entrance. He could see the absolute terror in her eyes as they took his erection in, enormous, red, swollen and straining against her pink slit, and he delighted in it. "What you can choose is whether this will hurt or not."

Tears began to well in her pretty brown eyes, and she nodded, indicating her forced consent. Somewhere in his head, he smirked triumphantly. He would take the most beautiful girl in the lands, the one who had denied him just an hour earlier, and she would like it.

Slightly loosening his grip on her legs, he placed the pad of his thumb at her clitoris, which was swelling and so sensitive to his touch, whether she wanted it or not, and began to rub sensuously. He lowered his head once more and took a nipple into his mouth, sucking gently, a stark contrast to the rough, ferocious man he was just moments earlier, and against Kagome's will, she could feel her body heating up, her lips below moistening under his ministrations. As his thumb quickened its rubbing, she found herself arching up into the Taisho's mouth and moaning deep in her throat.

He lifted mouth from her hardened nipples and looked up at her with eyes driven near insane by desire. He was torn between burying the aching rod of flesh between his legs inside her and burying his nose in her sweet pussy. In the end, he decided to satisfy his nose, wanting to taste her maddening honey from its source. Kagome watched in trepidation as he made his way down between her spread thighs and called out in shock as he began sucking and licking her nub.

"Taisho!" she couldn't help crying out when she couldn't bear it any longer. He stilled immediately and shot his eyes, grey darkened with desire, to her.

"Bitch, say my name." He demanded angrily.

As he glared her into submission, she struggled to compose herself enough to reply. He had said he wouldn't hurt her, and the thought of him furious and snarling above her again was terrifying. "T-taisho, I-I don't know your name." For a moment, he was completely confused. His name. His name. Growling in frustration, he pushed the thought aside and dove back down. He wanted to bury every part of him inside her, and while his tongue was happily satisfied, the cock, glistening with pre-cum and throbbing in agonizing arousal, protested angrily.

Deciding he had drank his fill, he moved back up to her pretty face, and roughly kissed her, simultaneously poising himself at her entrance. As he began to force his way in, she shrieked against his mouth in pain and he pulled back. Panting in frustration, he reined himself in. He had promised her no pain if she submitted.

Pushing her knees against her chest, he tangled a finger in her slick curls below and intimately slid a thick finger into her. She flinched and clenched around the foreign object instinctively and he groaned at the feeling of those hot, tight, snug walls hugging his fingers. A distant thought floated through his head that clearly the third rumor was false, but he was too far gone to acknowledge the thought. Collapsing against her from the restraint it took to not bury his length inside her, he began to move his finger in and out, massaging her walls until she was writhing and moaning underneath him.

He continued until it was too much to stand and removed his fingers, replacing them with his massive erection in one swift movement. Kagome gasped from the sudden pain and pleasure from the complete fullness, but Inuyasha ignored her.

He had held back for too long with an unbelievable amount of restraint, and now he would finally take what he had been craving. He pounded furiously in her, unable to take his eyes away from the spot where they were joined, and drank in her moans and cries of pleasure. She came nearly immediately, having been brought to the brink already by his tongue and hands, crying out to the stone walls. He continued forcefully, draping his thick arms over her, trapping her beneath him as he fucked her relentlessly. She moaned and fisted the sheets as he brought her closer and closer to her second orgasm, before they finally came, tumbling over the edge of oblivion together.

Having finally reached completion, he found his sight quickly blurring and his head growing dizzy as he struggled to look upon the woman beneath him. The last thing he remembered was tumbling out of her bed.

* * *

The whispers of the trees above were deafening.

'_Inuyasha...'_

'_Inuyasha.'_ He heard murmured throughout the trees. Groaning at the pounding headache, he began to arise, only to fall when dizziness overtook him.

'_Inuyasha.'_ Flipping face up nearly killed him with the effort it took, but at least now he could see the green foliage surrounding him, if somewhat dazedly.

A scream suddenly rang in his head. No, he decided. A memory of a scream.

"What...th..fuck..?" he mumbled out incoherently and grasped at the ground beneath him. Dessiccated leaves flew up in his grasp. He let out a groan of pain from the headache and turned so he could crawl on his side. He needed water or he swore his mouth would fall out.

'_Inuyasha...'_

The trees kept whispering to him, he thought. Ignoring it, he dragged himself along the ground. What he wanted to know was what the fuck had happened and how he managed to apparently drink himself to near death. Yes, near death. That's what this felt like he decided miserably. Crawling slowly in no decided direction whatsoever, he followed his instincts to find any water he could.

The feeling - no, memory - of flesh on flesh and delicious friction sang through his body, and he was forced to stop as the pleasure ran through him. It was an odd feeling: immense pleasure and mind-numbing pain together.

When the feeling passed, he resumed dragging his limp body and for the first time, cursed the weight of his muscles. Groaning in frustration, he nearly stopped and gave up completely when a glimmer caught his eye. Focusing as best he could, he gave a pathetic cry of relief when he saw the pond just a few yards away.

Crawling desperately, he reached the edge of the pond and dunked his head inside, desperately drinking up all the water he could. The unbearable dryness in his mouth slowly disappeared and he began to lift his face out of the water.

'_Inuyasha!'_ He looked at his reflection in the pond and fainted.

* * *

Author's Note:

For those who enjoyed it, thanks to all who have made it down here for reading! Please review and let me know what you think! Also, while I love reading long, thoughtful feedback, I don't mind "one-line" reviews at all, so please do tell me what you liked/disliked!

For those who hated it, if you have somehow made it to the author's note but totally hate everything that has happened, then please avert thine eyes, move your cursor to the upper left hand corner of this page and press the back button. I don't mind _constructive_ criticism (for your convenience, I have italicized the key word in this sentence), but flames are no good.

That being said, I also know that there are grammatical errors and questionable stylistic choices throughout this chapter. If the former, some of those are intentional, but if you would like to point them out as you see them, feel free. I will look at them and decide whether I want to change them. If the latter, I am still trying to find my own style. Just let me play around a bit!

ALSO, because I think someone will inevitably bring this up, just because I let something happen in my story, doesn't mean I at all condone it. E.g. Rape happens. It happens in this story. I don't like it (well, that's an understatement), and you hopefully don't either. I put it in the story because it works with the story and because this is a STORY. No one was hurt in the production of this text file. I assure you.


	2. The Lord and the Outcast

**Risen in Patria**

Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred with demons and humans hateful of each other. Now the fallen Taisho Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi. Together, the two must decipher the kingdom's history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

WARNINGS: Implied rape, implied character death, implied torture, mild sexual content, violence, mild gore, OOC, language

Again, please heed the warnings.

_The Lord and the Outcast_

Naraku paced furiously along the well-crafted floors of his new castle. Picking up one of the various antique weapons lining the walls, he threw it viciously at one of the ornate paper screens, tearing a hole straight through. When the trembling, brown-haired girl to his side squeaked in surprise and fear, he turned hateful eyes on her.

"You had one thing to do, whore, and you fucked it up. _One thing_," he growled, inwardly relishing her terrified blue eyes and tears.

"P-please, Master Naraku! I-I did exactly as you asked. I swear!" She cried out in that strange northern accent of hers and bowed her head to the floor, praying with all her might that he might spare her.

Naraku picked her up by her neck, squeezing just hard enough for her to draw in panicked breaths. "I didn't 'ask,' whore. Masters don't _ask_ their servants to do their bidding, much less their whores." Tossing her to the ground, which was unfortunately cushioned enough that he was sure she wasn't as hurt as he wanted, he began pacing again. "You've fucked up my plans. How do you think you should be punished for it?"

The girl lowered herself to the floor once more, pleading through her sobs. "Please, Master Naraku, s-sp-spare me. I only wanted to serve you! I-I'm sorry for whatever I've done wrong!" He looked down at her mussed and tangled hair, the same hair he once caressed lovingly, and smiled to himself. He tried to imagine, for a moment, what this must seem like in her eyes. Not even a month ago he had been the kind, generous and powerful demon who was willing to bring her family out of debt and to save her from those who hunted her. All he wanted in exchange was her body, and she had let him fuck her willingly...until he got too rough and angry, until he began to demand _more_. He looked down amusedly at the girl and slowly made his way to her kneeling form.

Softening his voice and gently stroking her hair so that she looked up in shock, her face easily giving away her barely concealed hope. "Poor girl. You're lucky I won't kill you like I did your father and the sad, little Lord of this house." He faced the eviscerated bodies of the two in the corner of the room and put his hand on his chin, feigning deep thought. "Well, I guess he's not the Lord anymore. I am, huh?"

She nodded quickly, trying to do anything she could to appease the angered demon. "T-t-thank you, Master Naraku." Bowing her head to the floor, she waited for him to give her the cue to stand. She tried to stop the terror that shot through her veins as soon as he began to chuckle. It was never good when he began to laugh.

"Little princess," he chuckled, using the nickname he'd given her when he first offered to 'pay off her debt,' "You still need to be punished for your failure. Carry the dish from one point to the next. That's all you had to do." He laughed louder at her quickening heartbeat and beckoned for her to stand. She arose with shaking knees and he began to circle her like a wolf hunting its prey, gently tracing a finger down her cheek in the same path her tears were taking.

He grabbed her by the waist of her dirtied dress, walking them both out of the room and down the hall. They approached a sliding door and she could hear boisterous laughter inside. Naraku slammed the sliding door open and roughly shoved her in, grabbing the back of her dress so she fell to the floor nude and screaming in terror. He tossed the rags out of her reach and turned to address the two men whose attention was now distracted by the sobbing, naked girl on the floor.

"I've tired of her," he explained simply.

One of the men stood up, stretching and eyeing her trembling form and grinned, "Finally...Something to do."

Naraku shared a laugh with the man and said, "Just don't hurt her too bad. I may still have use for her yet, even as idiotic as she is."

He moved to leave when her voice stopped him. "I'll be better, Master Naraku! Please...please..." She wanted to finish, '...not him...' but couldn't get the words out of her mouth. She would take Naraku, cruel and violent as he was, over the human currently leering at her any day. Naraku didn't make her skin crawl the way _he_ did. Naraku didn't poison the air with a mere smirk the way _he_ did.

Ignoring her pleas entirely, he resumed leaving, only pausing to say, "Oh, Onigumo, when you're done, I've got something else for you to do." Naraku closed the door behind him and walked away, listening as the girl's hysterical sobs and the screams that soon followed slowly faded away behind him.

He entered one of the bedrooms and dug up piles of soft and silky outfits, lining them up carefully on the fireplace mantel before taking a seat at the side of the blazing fire. As he waited patiently for the men to finish with the girl, he thought about how to proceed with his plans.

He would have laughed at the girl had he not been so enraged. If there was anything he was sure about, it was that the screw up hadn't been her fault. It had to have been one of the other two, he knew, but neither of them would have taken when he had thrown at his little princess. What he couldn't figure out was what the fuck had happened that apparently stopped the Taisho's transformation. If his little spiders were correct, the newly crowned Taisho had stumbled out of the castle, completely drunk, but also completely _human_.

The sound of heavy but swift footsteps roused him from his thoughts. Onigumo pushed open the door, still in the middle of tying his obi shut, and entered the room.

"I liked that one. I might want to have her again," he said, lust still clear in his eyes.

"What's mine is yours, my friend." Naraku turned back to the fire and remarked, "There's no point in putting those clothes back on." Onigumo's hands stilled and he let the cloth fall to the side. Pausing for just a moment, he resumed talking. "Are you afraid of fire, Onigumo?"

Without saying a word, Onigumo moved forward and thrust his bare arm into the flames, and Naraku watched in mild fascination as the fire danced on his skin, forming bright red blisters and bloody trails until the smell of burning skin started to overwhelm his nose. Onigumo quickly removed his arm and Naraku could see the shadow of a pained grimace on his face. He wouldn't have guessed; Onigumo hadn't made a sound the entire time.

"Hmm...I suppose great minds do think alike," Naraku commented pleasantly and waved his hand at the piles of clothes on the mantelpiece. "Get dressed. You're going to visit an old...friend of mine, the Higurashi girl."

* * *

Two amber eyes stared back at him as he looked in the pool. He brought his eyes down to the mouth's reflection and watched as his tongue traced the newly formed fangs in his mouth. The golden orbs made their way back up to his hair and he looked at long, silvery hair that was now long enough to rest on his back. Finally, he sought out the two silver, furry ears that sat atop his head, occasionally twitching at their own will. Roaring angrily, he slashed at the pool with his claws and looked away disgustedly even as his hands destroyed the hated image.

He had woken up nearly a week ago, five or six days was his best guess, and he was about to go insane. Every time he caught a glance of his face in the water, he wanted to tear it off, destroy the animalistic features that now haunted his looks. He had spent day and night exhausting his mind trying to figure out what happened that night, how he had gotten himself cursed, and what in the seven hells his name was.

It frustrated him to no end. He remembered his friends, his life and though he had no memories of the party itself, he had deduced that he must have drank his head off at his coronation ceremony - hell he even remembered what he had for breakfast the morning before his coronation. 'Why the hell can't I remember my name?' He raged inwardly.

"Inuyasha." The forest had whispered those words to him when he woke. He tried the word on his tongue. It sounded strangely familiar. "Inuyasha," he tried again, clearing his throat since it had grown course after days of little to no use.

He had tried to think of himself as Inuyasha, but he refused to acknowledge it aloud. Inuyasha was a savage name, the name of a demon.

'I'm a demon now, sure, but as soon as I find someone to lift this fucking curse, I'll be back to myself and I will personally dismember whoever did this.' The issue was, however, that he had no idea how to go about getting himself cured. In the palace, people came to him, not the other way around. Then there was the fact that he couldn't get past most of the Northern guards. They were taught to attack, shoot and kill demons on sight - he had trained them himself - and he knew that a number of them had purification powers too. 'That's fucking irony for you.'

Grumbling frustratedly, he used his newfound strength to leap upwards to the branch and settled as comfortably as he could against the tree trunk that was his temporary home. He sat miserably, pulling his knees in to keep warm.

'I need help,' he admitted to himself. While he could hunt animals down easily - he was a talented hunter even before the dreadful curse - he had no idea how to cook them or prepare them for eating, and more importantly, he simply had no idea how to take care of himself. There were no delicious soups, fragrant soaps, sweet pies lining the kitchen counters, clean cloths or warm blankets in the wilderness. He wanted this nightmare to be over, for him to wake up in his own warm bed, preferably with a beautiful and naked Kagome Higurashi wrapped around him, and for him to be _human_ again.

Glancing upwards to curse at the gods, he saw a dark shadow drift through the sky, in the direction of the south. 'Demons! Where are they headed?' Excited by the sudden adrenaline rush at the thought of fighting demons again, he took off in the direction they appeared to be heading, happy to have the distraction from his miserable thoughts.

It wasn't long before both he and the horde of demons reached the boundaries of the forest. He could see a small village up ahead and sped up as the demons descended. The Northern guards had already formed a defensive line, hacking and shooting at the dozens of demons attacking from above, and he threw himself into the fray, sharpening his claws on demon flesh.

Far too soon, the horde began thinning, and he hunted down the last few stragglers, slicing them down before the human guards could react. As soon as the last of the wild demons were dead, the guards turned their swords, spears and arrows on him.

"Demon! Prepare to die!" One of the men yelled before the whole group charged at him.

"Stop! I was helping you, you fools!" He leapt back to avoid their spears. When they readied their swords again, he jumped forward, swiping his claws just close enough to force them backwards.

An arrow flew at him from the side and he barely managed to dodge it in time. "Fucking idiots! Goddamn it, if you don't stop, I'll have you all killed when I turn back!" he threatened furiously.

Ignoring his threats, the men quickly surrounded him and he wondered briefly if perhaps it would be smarter to flee. He had no desire to kill the humans, but they clearly wanted his head. As he crouched low to spring, a glimmering light appeared in his periphery, and suddenly there was blinding pain.

"AH-hhh!" He screamed out, unable to hold it back as the purifying arrow hit him right in the side. His eyes were clenched in pain and he cried out again as one of the men took advantage of his wound and managed to slash him across his arm with a sword. Swinging his arm wildly and cutting down anyone in his path, he made a leap in the general direction of the forest and limp-ran as fast as he could. He could feel himself getting weaker and weaker, the wounds growing more and more painful before he collapsed on the dirt floor.

"Help..." He tried to get out, eyes straining to see if there was anyone around him. The world around him began blurring, and he curled on his side to try and stop the pain from the protruding arrow. "...help..." He tried again, but his voice came out as a pained gasp. The dirt and trees around him were fading away when he caught a familiar and comforting scent that instantly relaxed him despite the agonizing wound at his side. He saw a woman enter his field of vision and blinked desperately to clear the image.

As she ran closer and dropped in front of him to assess his injuries, he could feel the sweet and gentle scent envelop him and slowly lure him into the darkness. While he couldn't see her face, somehow his nose told him who had found him.

'Kagome...' Feeling warm hands on him, he let the blackness take him.

* * *

Sango heard the gong echoing throughout the mostly empty halls of the temple and did her best to ignore the loud ringing. She folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head, praying to any gods that were listening.

'Please bring my little brother home safely to me. I have done what I can to get him back...I don't want anything else but to be with him again. Please, please give him back to me.' She kept head bowed and begged the gods for their mercy. Rising slowly, she moved to stick her incense sticks in the tiny bowls of sand, allowing the smoke to cloud her mind for a moment. A number of beautiful drawings, most depicting the artists' interpretations of the gods, lined the temple walls, but Sango ignored them all. She had spent over two weeks praying to those gods and no good had come of it. Now she prayed to the foreigners' gods and hoped that her words would reach them even though the temple was dedicated to the other gods.

Turning slowly, she stepped down from the prayer altar and left the temple without another glance at the building. The days were getting colder as fall came upon the kingdom's capital and Sango wrapped her thin clothes tighter around herself as she made her way back to the kitchen.

"Hi, Kaede. I hope I'm not late."

"No, Sango." Kaede looked up from the stew she was making and smiled kindly at her. "I do need you to bring some of this to the council meeting." Kaede rolled a large tray of soups and steamed vegetables to her and waved her off to the council room.

Doing as she was asked, Sango began rolling the cart of food out of the kitchen and down the halls, though her mind was completely distracted by thoughts of her brother, of what she would be willing to do to get him back. Before she even realized, she reached the large council room. She gave three sharp raps on the door and carefully pushed open the enormous wooden doors.

The men and women appeared to be in a heated debate, but quieted as soon as Sango entered the room. "My Ladies, My Lords," she curtseyed politely and moved to serve her dishes. As quickly as they quieted, the councilors resumed talking.

"We can't carry on like this. This...This façade will fall apart sooner rather than later, and there will be chaos if the people find out by other means," one of the older men on the council advised.

"We can and we _must_. Six hundred men have already been dispatched - North, South, and West of the Capital - and there has been no news at all," a young woman insisted. Sango looked up for a moment and guessed that the woman must have been the head of the Capital's military. Dressed in a strange combination of metal and an unidentifiable armor, she looked the part of the no-nonsense military leader.

As she set down the last dish, she heard another voice from the opposite side of the round table speak. "We'll find him. People don't simply drop off the face of the planet, my friends. Until then, it will be kept within this table."

'Are they talking about the...Taisho?' Sango asked herself. 'What do they mean they need to find him?' Her interest was peaked, and she knew this information was valuable.

She looked up to see who had spoken and allowed a deep blush to make its way onto her face when she saw the handsome lord's deep violet eyes already focused on her. She recognized lust when she saw it and felt his apparent attention was too good an opportunity to pass up. She hastily made her way back to the tray, feigning shyness but subtly arching her back to draw his eyes to her backside. "Maid," he addressed her and she turned to face him again. "I've finished with my meal," he continued and beckoned her over to collect the dish and bowl. Turning momentarily to the council members, he dismissed them all. The councilors stood and left, but he remained seated, watching her with an unwavering gaze as she finished collecting their plates.

When she moved to set the dishes on her tray, he stood up and slowly strode over to her silent form. Sango ignored his looming presence behind her, but froze when she felt a squeezing hand against her bottom and his hard chest against her back.

"What's you name, maid?" He asked flirtatiously, leaning over her shoulder and brushing her hair behind her ear as he gently squeezed her ass.

"M-my L-lord," she managed and told herself that the stutter was on purpose.

He interrupted and corrected her, "Call me Miroku."

She could feel the hand not resting on her ass slither to the front and between the crevice in her thighs. "M-my Lord Miroku..." she let a gasp escape when his fingers deftly slipped into the folds of her serving shirt and began rubbing her wet lips. He clenched his jaw when he realized she wasn't wearing any undergarments.

"I'm Sango..." She moaned out, and a light grin made its way onto her face when she heard him sigh and rock himself against the curve of her bottom.

"Well, Sango, how would you like to bear my children?" He groaned out as she pushed back and ground her ass against his clothed bulge.

'Bear the child of the wealthiest and second most powerful man in all the kingdom? This is too easy.' She pushed the tray out of the way, turned to face him and sat back on the counter. Spreading her knees seductively so that he couldn't tear his needy gaze from her, she firmly but gently grasped the bulge at the front of his robes and tugged him forward.

As he quickly unrobed, she reminded herself, 'This is for Kohaku,' and slowly parted the folds of her dress.

"I'd love to, my Lord."

* * *

Kagome worked with the speed of an experienced healer, swiftly applying pressure on the man's wounds and dressing it efficiently. The man - no, the hanyou - had appeared out of absolutely nowhere, stumbling into her hunting territory, bleeding and quickly fading away. She had used nearly all her strength to carry the huge and weighty man back to her home and considered herself - and the then-dying hanyou - lucky that she hadn't wandered too far from her current home.

Luckily, he was unconscious during the worst of it as she removed the arrow and dressed his more serious wounds.

'He must have been injured by some of those Northern guards,' she thought to herself angrily. It was times like these that she realized, despite all the terrible things that might have happened to her, she never had to suffer the same way hanyou and demon did. Driven out of their homes, purified or slaughtered on sight if they were lucky, and tortured endlessly if they weren't. It used to cross her mind that perhaps the demons were at fault, but now, having seen many years of conflict between the North and the demons in the wild, she'd walked away with a bias against the "guards" of the North.

Looking down at the face of the hanyou, she felt a strange pang go through her. His face was no longer contorted in a pained grimace, but relaxed by the soothing salve and the peace of sleep. 'Though I do have to wonder why he would even come so close to the villages. Most demons have learned how stupid that is...the Taisho has made sure to teach them well,' she thought bitterly before trying to stomp down all thoughts of him.

Unfortunately, his unwelcome face popped up in her mind and she found herself torn between anger and shame at the memory of what happened two weeks ago. She'd seen her family fall apart, her cousins, aunts, uncles, parents raped and slaughtered, and she had vowed never to allow herself to feel so helpless and weak ever again. But when the time came and he towered over her, threatening pain unless she submitted, she was weak. She allowed the spoilt and cruel Taisho what he wanted.

'And what's worse,' she thought, angry at herself, 'I let myself...enjoy it.' She had spent the days after she fled his castle consumed by shame. She'd repeated over and over again to herself that his touch brought her no pleasure, that she submitted because the Taisho would have had her killed - perhaps her remaining family killed as well, as the ruthless prince was occasionally rumored to do - had she refused, and she tried to ignore the nights she woke up in a sweat, terrified by nightmares of him but unable to deny that she was wet from the dreams of his fingers and thickness rocking against her. Even now, as she thought of him inside her... - she shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. 'He's a monster and a rapist. Nothing's going to change that,' she thought while clenching her teeth. 'I guess it's only fair for the world to have a vicious king follow his kind father.'

A light moan from her half-human patient drew her out of her self-hateful thoughts and she turned around to face the rousing hanyou.

She kneeled by his side and lightly stroked his bangs to see his eyes as he wakened. Half-wakened and tired golden eyes stared up at her in confusion and...adoration?

Ignoring the emotions in his eyes, she asked gently, "Are you alright?"

He blinked drearily at her and took a deep breath, but didn't offer a response.

"Hello? Can you understand me?" That got him to nod tiredly.

"Well...do you have a name, perhaps?"

He seemed to freeze at that and stayed silent for so long that Kagome was sure that he must not speak the common tongue after all.

Finally, he said somewhat hesitantly, "...Inuyasha," and winced when that small movement revived the pain in his side.

"I'm Kagome." He was about to reply that he already knew that, but suddenly remembered he was a hanyou. He wasn't supposed to know who she was. "Inuyasha, then, are you feeling better?" Kagome tried again.

He tried to push himself up to face her and she swore she heard him say her name before he collapsed from the sharp pain shooting down his spine. Kagome immediately put her hands underneath his head and slowly lowered himself back down.

"Hey, stupid, don't get up yet."

When the pain subsided, Inuyasha looked back up at her face and let out a weak "Keh,"

but obeyed her and remained lying down. When Kagome saw that he would listen, she moved away to get some water for him.

For his part, Inuyasha was sure he was dreaming. He remembered the agony of the purifying arrow, his desperate retreat into the forest and the feeling of safety as he succumbed to the pain of his injuries. He had no idea for how long he slept, but he had been woken up by that same, irresistible, indescribable smell. He'd assumed he was in heaven for a moment, when he awoke to her face, the beauty he had been eyeing for the better part of a year.

Kagome Higurashi. He'd invited her to his coronation. That he remembered. Everything else of that night still evaded him. Had he asked her for her hand like he planned? Had she accepted his offer? He had had a crush - though he didn't think it sounded right for a man of his status to admit to a "crush" - on Kagome since he first laid eyes on her. Who wouldn't be infatuated with such a beautiful woman? Lucky for him, he had the advantage of being the most powerful man in the kingdom. If he weren't so embarrassed and disgusted with himself as a demon, he would just declare to her right then and there that he was Taisho and that they would be married within the week if he had his way - which he always did, he thought with a cocky grin. Of course, with things as they were now, he'd have to wait until he found a healer and somehow turned back into his normal self.

She returned soon with a glass of water and he accepted it eagerly, letting her hold his head in her lap and taking in her scent. "Thanks," he said hesitantly, unused to giving thanks for things that people always did for him.

She hummed her welcome and commented, "It will still probably take a week or so for you to get better. The arrow also weakened you enough that you might get an infection from that wound on your arm. You're lucky you're a hanyou, though, you know. That arrow would have probably killed you if you were full demon. "

Frowning at the strange term, he asked, "Hanyou?"

Cocking her head in confusion, she mused, "Is that not what it's called where you're from? Half-demons?"

His jaw tensed as disgust raged through him. 'Fuck, not only am I a demon, I'm not even a full one.' Seeing her wait for his response, he managed, "I'm not...from around here. Sorry." If she noticed the sudden tension in his body, she didn't comment on it.

She did, however, bring a hand up and gently rubbed his fuzzy white ears. She spoke softly, "Sorry if you were planning on keeping it a secret. Your ears gave it away." He would have paid attention had he not been overwhelmed at the sudden pleasure and contentment that rushed through him as she rubbed. For a minute, he didn't care that he hated his ears. As long as she kept rubbing them right _there_. He couldn't hold back the satisfied growl that left his mouth and his mouth lolled open as she relaxed his entire body. Never in his life had he felt so _good_, and he was saying this with a small hole in his body.

For a moment, he began to question how he could ever hate those ears, but her hands suddenly stopped, and he was left to slowly wake from the pleasure-induced haze.

Lightly snickering to herself at his dazed face, she apologized, "Sorry. I have to go make us some dinner."

"Don't you have a maid for that?" He asked, disappointed that she would be leaving his presence, taking that incredible scent with her.

"No...I moved out here so I could be alone for a while. Don't worry, I can cook better than most maids." Inuyasha wanted to demand for her to stay, but remembered that right now, he was a hanyou, and hanyou had no right to ask something like that.

He was left with his thoughts for what felt like an eternity before she returned with two bowls of meat and rice. As they began eating, Inuyasha asked a question that had been on his mind the entire time she was preparing dinner. "How come you aren't...afraid of me?"

She looked up from her meal and gave him a piercing stare. "Are you planning on hurting me?"

"Well, no but -"

Cutting him off immediately, she answered, "Then I have nothing to be afraid of."

"But I'm a demon," he continued and brought his clawed hand to his face, "I could cut you down if I wanted to."

Raising an eyebrow at him, she confidently asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

"No! Of course not!" He said rather indignantly.

"Well I could purify you right this second, kill you in your sleep or report you to the Capital. You have a lot more to fear from me than I from you, I think," Kagome explained calmly and disregarded his protests.

"We actually probably have more in common than you think," she added with a strangely sad smile.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha pried, figuring that there was no better time than now to get to know his future queen. His temporary dilemma could be a blessing in disguise if he could use what he learned to woo the beautiful woman.

She paused to think, and began, "I..." He waited for her to continue more patiently than he ever had before, but she seemed to change her mind and shook her head. "Nevermind." When he seemed disappointed, she added, "Maybe another day..."

Rising and setting their empty bowls on a side table, she moved to gently rub his ears again. "You need rest. Just sleep, for now." Any thought of protesting flew out of his mind as his whole body succumbed to the sensations of his ears being rubbed so sweetly, and he let the exhaustion from his injuries ease him into sleep.

When Kagome felt him drift off, she carefully removed her hands and looked at the sleeping hanyou, taking in the innocence of his face, his long lashes and the softness of his cheeks and high cheekbones. She let a smile grace her face and realized that she felt happier with him around than she had felt in the past two weeks.

'I guess it is pretty lonely out here. I needed time alone...at first,' she thought and looked over at Inuyasha once more, 'but maybe some companionship will help right now.' He seemed, at least, willing to listen to her. I've been more myself this past hour than I have for days...'

Holding the dirty bowls in hand, she left the room with a smile and the injured hanyou on her mind.

* * *

Kikyo internally rejoiced each time her arrows struck the bullseye. Her lady-in-waiting sat to the side, clapping graciously each time Kikyo she was successful. 'Which is everytime,' Kikyo thought to herself confidently.

Nearly two hours she had been practicing, mixing in a variety of targets and arrows to keep her skills sharp, and she finally let her arms rest. A light sheen of sweat had made its way on her face, and she waved over her young brother Souta.

The happy ten year old bounced over, one hand carrying a cool glass of water and the other a towel. "Thanks, Souta." As she dabbed at the sweat on her forehead, she looked at the small wooden sword tied at his side with a string. "Training to be a fighter?"

"Yeah!" He declared enthusiastically, thrilled that she noticed. "I'm going to be just like you!"

Looking into his cheerful gray eyes, a gift his father had given him she thought wistfully, she smiled encouragingly. "Good, Souta. Being a fighter is honorable. Higurashis are fighters, don't forget that." She returned the towel and dismissed him.

Turning again to her target, she prepared to let another arrow fly, this time channeling some of her purification energy in, when she saw a bush a little off to the side rustling. Immediately, her arrow was trained at the bush. "Who's there?" She called out harshly. A man stumbled out of the bush, swaying unsteadily and clutching his arm to his chest. She took in his ripped, but clearly silken clothes, deducing that he must be some wealthy man who found himself injured and lost in the wild Northern forests.

"Help me...! Please, my Lady." He took a step towards her, but collapsed from the weight of his wounds. Lowering her bow when she realized he wasn't a demon and wasn't much of a threat in his condition, she rushed over to help the man, moving to lift his arm over her shoulder when he let out a loud hiss. She caught a glimpse of his injured arm and had to hold back a gasp. It had been completely burned, bloody and destroyed.

Shouting out immediately to the frozen lady-in-waiting to get some bandages, she steadily moved the man towards her home. "How did this happen? Are you injured elsewhere?

He limped along with her and explained, "I'm a minor lord of a family East of here. We were attacked by demons out of nowhere. They burned everything down and killed most of my family. Luckily, I escaped" Kikyo glanced at his arm again before averting her gaze. "Thank you for helping me, my Lady."

"Please call me Kikyo," she said and smiled as comfortingly as she could at the man. They made it into the house, and Kikyo gingerly laid him down on a futon. She was much clumsier with bandages and healing arts than her sister, but she did what she could to sooth and bandage the massive burns on his arm and the cuts he had across his body. Seeing his clenched teeth and sensing his determination not to make a sound, she thought to herself, 'He's so brave.' When she finished, she asked, "What's your name, my Lord."

Holding back a smirk, he feigned a grateful smile and answered, "Lord Onigumo, my Lady."

* * *

Author's Note:

Many thanks to those who reviewed last chapter!

I wanted to start this chapter off with Naraku and his evil doings to sort of contrast where the Taisho AKA Inuyasha ended last chapter to sort show how despite his meanness, he doesn't innately enjoy hurting people (like he tries to not hurt Kagome). Anyway, please review and let me know what interests you, what you like or dislike, etc.

I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, as it sets up a lot of the coming events, especially now that Onigumo is thrown into the mix as well.

Finally, if you guys would let me know what you think of the non Inuyasha or Kagome parts, that would be awesome. I just ask because I'm curious how carefully people actually read them. In complete honesty, I normally skim the non-Inu or Kag parts in an InuKag story (and funny enough, I tend to skim ANs too, so people like me probably won't read this either…) just because my mind is normally 100% focused on the InuKag storyline. It won't hurt my feelings if you skip those parts, I'm just interested in what people think.


	3. Weaving Silken Threads

**Risen in Patria**

Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred with demons and humans hateful of each other. Now the fallen Taisho Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi. Together, the two must decipher the kingdom's history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.

Warnings: Implied rape, implied character death, implied torture, mild sexual content, mild blood and gore, language, OOC,

As always, warnings are to be heeded.

_Weaving Silken Threads_

A chilly wind blew through the room, tauntingly caressing the sweating and shaking figure on the futon. Inuyasha shook and twisted in his sheets, his nightmares drawing a pained grimace on his sleeping face.

His mother. She was much younger in his dream, younger than he remembered her, though his only memory of her was from his toddler years.

"_Today, my friends and my people, we are here to witness the execution of a traitor, a most treacherous man who has betrayed me, this country, and you, the people," a chilling voice rang out. _

Inuyasha watched helplessly as his mother fell to the ground crying into her sleeves and saw a vague image of a castle in the background.

"_It is customary, and often necessary for our safety, that the immediate family of a traitor be executed as well. My friends, before us is Lady Izayoi, the only daughter of this dangerous man." The voice continued, but Inuyasha still could not see the man speaking. "Out of mercy, I will allow her a chance to earn her pardon."_ Inuyasha's sleeping form drew in pained gasps, and a rush of fury and desperation rushed through him at the sight of Izayoi shaking with the convulsions of her sobs.

"_Lady Izayoi, will you accept my offer in exchange for your life?"_

_Her voice filled his mind, fragile and hopeless, as she begged,"Please, my King, spare me. Spare my father! There must be some mistake! My father and I have always been loyal to you, my King."_

Suddenly the scene shifted and Inuyasha was seeing the execution as it was about to happen. He watched in slow motion as the executioner swung his axe down, and for a second, he felt his eyes connect with the supposed traitor's before, in one fell swing, the man's head was removed.

His body jerked as the whole world turned to screams and blood and chaos.

"_Inu no Taisho!" A desperate cry echoed in his head._

"_Inu no Taisho!"_

A roar built up in his chest, and Inuyasha suddenly shot up, beads of sweat dripping down his face and drawing in gasps of breath like his life depended on it.

'What in the world was that?' Inuyasha thought and clung to his sheets to ground himself in reality. It was just a dream, he reminded himself. A frighteningly realistic and haunting dream, but a dream nonetheless. He waited for his heartbeat to slow and looked out his window to gauge the time of day. It looked dark out, but he could see traces of the sun stretching itself through the sky.

'I guess I might as well get up. Maybe I can move the firewood inside and save Kagome the work,' he thought. His new plan of action pleased him, as recently discovered how much he loved the way she looked at him when she was happy. 'She'll look at me like that everyday, when we're married,' he thought, cheerful at the idea. He'd been happier the past three days than he had been in a long time, Inuyasha admitted to himself.

Sure, he was still a disgusting half-breed, but he realized early on that that had its advantages too. Kagome said that his wounds would be fully healed within the next two days, three days maximum. That would have been a miracle as a human. And it didn't hurt that just being in the same room as Kagome meant he could drown himself in her scent.

'I would have never know she smelled so good,' he acknowledged, 'Meh. Guess I better memorize that scent now for when I turn back.' Of course, thinking about turning back into his human self reminded him that he still had no idea how to find a healer that would help him. Aiding demons was strictly forbidden - he would ignore it in Kagome's case because she was his intended - so he'd have to find someone who was willing to break the law or someone who practiced outside of his kingdom. 'Damn it, I just want to get this shit over with. Plus I haven't been to any meetings in a week. Shit's probably gone to hell in the capital by now.'

Also, if there was anything his healthier body had been noticing, it was how beautiful and alluring Kagome looked everyday. He had hidden his desire well, certain that if even he found himself disgusting, there was no way she would react well, but he wanted to be human again and finally be with Kagome as a man with a woman.

He pushed himself off the bed, slowly to avoid jostling any of his healing injuries. Kagome hadn't let him out of bed much the past few days, so he took advantage of his chance to finally stretch out his muscles.

His walk through the house was always eerie, but he found it especially so before the sun rose to lighten its walls. Kagome apparently lived alone here, as he hadn't seen or heard anyone else, but the sight of so many empty rooms, dilapidated and filled with cobwebs, forced him to remember that not too many years ago, this had been a home, lively and beautiful. He finally made his way out of the house and into the chilly air of dawn, and to his utter surprise, he found Kagome already outside, hacking away at some of the larger logs outside. 'I guess, there goes my plan of making her happy...'

His presence instantly alerted her, and she turned from her work to greet him. "Inuyasha! What are you doing out here?"

"Uhh...I just thought I could help out or something. Since I've been staying here and just lying around in bed all day..." he explained, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck awkwardly. He had never offered to work for anyone else, and he found the whole exchange strange.

"You don't have to, Inuyasha. You're my guest here, so just let me take care of you." She gave him a kind and radiant smile.

"Well, at least let me collect the logs and pile them for you." She looked hesitant, so he added, "Please?" Although she would never like him as the Taisho more for what he did as a hanyou, he wanted to make her like him more.

"If you want to," she gestured to the unorganized piles of cut logs at her side. "I could use a strong demon like you," she added, sending him a shy smile. He would have blushed if he didn't hate being referred to as a demon. He began to move the logs she had chopped into small piles, taking occasional breaks when it put a strain on his wounds since the area around his arrow wound was still pink and sore.

They worked together in silence save for the irregular chopping sounds Kagome's axe made. Inuyasha savored the crisp, refreshing smell of fall, the cool air that revived and lightly stung his lungs every time he took a breath. The world wasn't as clean or as wild further South in the capital.

"Inuyasha...I never asked, but where are you from?" He froze at her question and his heart beat picked up in his nervousness as he tried to think of an answer. She picked up on his reaction, though attributed it to the wrong reasons. "You don't have to worry about my tattling on you," she gave a short laugh at the idea, "I didn't save you just so I could turn you in and have you executed."

He chuckled nervously, though he couldn't tell if it was from coming up with a response to her question or from the idea of facing his own kingdom's laws as a hanyou. "I lived somewhere further north from here..." he paused and she waited patiently for him to continue, "It doesn't really have a name."

She nodded to show her attention and asked him curiously, "Do you live alone? I don't think you've mentioned any family or any...I don't know...wife or something."

"No...no family. My parents died a long time ago." At least that wasn't a lie.

"Oh...I didn't know. Sorry, Inuyasha." He grunted in response. They returned to a comfortable silence for a minute, before Kagome shared her story with him, "My parents died...were killed...a long time ago too."

"Oh..." Inuyasha wanted to add something, but wasn't sure what to say. He knew how most of her family was killed, and he thought to apologize that his forces arrived too late, saved too few people. Sorry was the right thing to say, so he added a soft "Sorry."

"Don't be. Unless you were one of the demons that killed them off, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Well unless you killed off my parents then you have nothing to be sorry for either."

She shrugged as she replied. "Touché. I just figured that my family members might have killed your parents or something. Sure it might have been other demons or something, but they killed so many demons for so many years, the odds are in my favor." Her face suddenly showed an inner rage and

"How do you even know my parents were killed?"

"Well...you're hanyou...your mother at the very least would have been killed, if not by the guards of this realm than by those up north. People never treat hanyou or those that bring them into the world that well."

Kagome had brought up a question that had been bugging Inuyasha for quite a few days. He was grateful to her for keeping him alive and nursing him back to health, but it seemed strange that she would have such sympathy for demons and hanyou, especially having grown up in the North. "Why do _you_ treat me so well then?" he questioned.

She looked surprised at the question, so he hastily reassured her that he was happy that she treated him well, but simply curious as to why. "I was never stupid enough to believe that we are all so black and white. I've met many kind-hearted demons and many cruel humans."

Kagome seemed conflicted for a few moments, but she took a deep breath and continued. "Do you know how my clan was nearly decimated some decade ago, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha considered how to respond. He could tell she was upset, distraught perhaps at the memory, and he wanted to resolve that problem as soon as possible. Obviously, he knew, and most around the kingdom had a general idea of what had happened, but he didn't know whether the northerners would know. Taking a chance and hoping it would get her mind off the topic faster, he said, "I think...it was a demon attack, right?"

She gave no sign she even heard him, though her brows furrowed in thought, and they sat in the chill silence for a minute. Finally, she spoke, "I'm surprised you are wrong on both accounts."

"What?"

'How could I be wrong on that...it's basically what happened. I would know.' He remembered being the brave, but impulsive with youth - he admitted that - Taisho at the time. A teenager on a crusade to purify all the lands. The Higurashi massacre had been his wake-up call that the wild lands north of his border couldn't be tamed, so he changed his priorities to guarding against any demons entering the realm.

His confusion went unnoticed by Kagome. She had set down the axe, smaller than any other he had seen in use, likely because a larger axe would weigh more than she herself, and moved to help him tie the piles of wood.

"It wasn't _one_. It was many, spread out over a nearly a year. And it wasn't a demon attack." She finally explained.

"What do you mean...it wasn't a demon attack?" He asked reluctantly, afraid he might offend or upset her by not knowing what she meant.

"Demons, humans, hanyou. Everyone who hated the kingdom and what it had been doing attacked us...hated us. Even some of our own men, _humans_, turned against us..." she looked pained at the thought and Inuyasha felt the urge to kill all those who had harmed her again.

"Look you don't have to talk about this," he said quietly and as soothingly as he could. He really wasn't good at this comforting thing, but clearly she was upset, so he awkwardly moved towards her and held her hand.

She looked down in surprise at his rough, clawed hands enveloping her own and he cheered when a smile lit up her face again. "Thanks, Inuyasha. But I think talking it out with you probably helps. Something about getting the anger out, right?"

He heard her soft laughter, and nodded, "Sure."

She continued, though there was something different in her voice as she began talking. A new confidence, perhaps. "I was a kid when everything happened, and I thought it was our fault. My family's. My mother's, my father's. My fault. Why else would they want to kill us? Then I thought it was all the demons' fault." She snorted at her childish stupidity. "You want to know who I blame now?" Her eyes glinted at his conspiratorially. "The Taisho."

Inuyasha felt his stomach lurch and instinctively pulled his hand from hers as if her skin burned his. She immediately turned to him worriedly and asked, "What's wrong?"

'What did she mean she blamed _him?_' His thoughts raced angrily through his head and he stuttered out, "Wh-what?"

Kagome caught onto his inner conflict and explained hurriedly, "I'm not trying to take all the blame my own family had and put it on him! But we were bound to do what he said. He spent years killing demons and anyone who sympathized with them, purifying them, ripping their families apart, and tacked my family's face on all his decrees. It was no wonder that when they finally rebelled, they attacked _us_. To the best of their knowledge, we _were_ behind all the suffering in their lives. Of course, the Taisho just asked us to take care of the mess, staying behind his safe walls and watched us all slaughtered! _Then _he finally decided that maybe it was time to lend a little help."

She paused to take a deep breath. "It's said that the past Taisho was so great a warrior, so kind a ruler that they had the greatest honor, highest position named after him. They nicknamed him the Taisho to show that he bested all the demons with his leadership and intellect. Now, he's left us with a cruel and vicious ruler." She glared hatefully off into the distance, and Inuyasha could swear she was imagining his death right then and there. "Don't you understand, Inuyasha?"

He couldn't understand. No. That was _not_ what had happened. He hadn't a real choice, and all the messengers told him that the situation was under control. He wanted to scream at her, 'It wasn't my fault!' but the guilt that lied buried inside of him kept him from speaking out. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm his emotions so he could think clearly, but a voice rang out in his head.

"_I'm sorry, Taisho, but I must refuse your offer."_ It was Kagome's voice.

In the present, Kagome spoke quietly, "My family wasn't the only thing he took from me." Inuyasha's deep breaths weren't helping anymore. He didn't want to hear any of this, but she continued, seemingly intent on breaking something inside him. "The night of his coronation...he took - he raped me."

Inuyasha took in a strangled gasp, and dropped the bundle he had been carrying. He screamed, "Stop!" as her words brought the night's events back to him. The fury rushing through him. The endless hallways. Her smell. Her body beneath his. Her tearful eyes looking up at him as she pleaded.

"AgHHH!" A yell forced its way out of his chest and into the forests beyond. His knees buckled and he dug his claws into the cold earth as wave after wave of agonizing memory rushed through him. "Stop!" He screamed again and again. Kagome had dropped to her knees beside him, trying to help him up, but he paid her no mind. That wasn't what happened. That _couldn't _have happened.

He tore himself away from her hands and fled back to his room. He needed to get away from her. Everything about her now reminded him of what he had done that night. Her smell had enticed him, driven him to the brink of insanity. Her fear had delighted him, excited him beyond anything he ever imagined. 'Gods, what did I do?' He would have never, not in a million years forced himself on a woman, not even if he wanted her as badly as he did Kagome Higurashi. No, no! He screamed inwardly.

'She hates me. She hates me...She _**hates**_ me.' Those painful words echoed in his head, threatening to tear him apart. He could feel his chest caving inward, his heart aching beneath his ribcage. Every dream he had of her, smiling and laughing on his arm, turned to dust. Her face, glaring off in the distance suddenly turned to face him.

He felt soft hands on his shoulders and spun around angrily to face the woman who had burnt him with her words. She was looking at him teary-eyed, asking pleadingly what was wrong.

"EVERYTHING!" He roared at her, letting out an enraged snarl. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" He shoved her backwards and took off out into the forest.

He let the trees blur around him, swinging his claws wildly, letting the pain of his opening wound and the bark scraping against his claws numb him. Again and again he smashed his bare knuckles against the trees, slashing through earth and wood for hours until his body exhausted him and no more memories remained.

He leapt high onto a towering tree, and crawled into a small space between its branches. He let the winds calm him and hugged his knees to his chest. And despite his every effort to forget her, the only thought running through his head was 'Kagome.'

* * *

Miroku lightly traced the curve of Sango's breast as they basked in the afterglow of another night of unbelievable sex. He looked down at her sleeping face, and felt a rush of affection and genuine warmth. When he had seduced her, those few days ago (though Miroku swore it felt like he had been far longer), he hadn't wanted much more than another woman to warm his bed for the night. But this one, this one was different, he thought with a rather goofy smile.

He was starting to really like Sango, he realized. She was witty, intelligent, willing to take control (gods he remembered waking up the first morning, tied to the posts on his bed butt-naked), and there was that bonus of having a toned and muscular but voluptuous body hidden underneath her kitchen robes. She was unlike any other woman he'd ever met, and the Taisho's words from the night of his coronation came back to him. Perhaps it was time for him to find one woman, one special woman, in his life.

Gently rousing her, he watched as her eyes lazily blinked open. "Good morning, Sango," he greeted softly. She looked up at him, and he marveled at how beautiful and strong her eyes looked.

"Good morning, my Lord." She responded.

A light frown formed on his face. "I do wish you would stop calling me that. I'm just Miroku."

"That's not proper at all," Sango insisted, though the other half of the reason was that she didn't want to get too close to Miroku. 'I need information. That's why I'm doing this all,' she reminded herself, though it felt more like trying to convince herself.

Miroku looked up at the ceiling in thought before finally speaking, "Well calling me a Lord is no more accurate than my calling you a Lady."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not really a Lord," he said quietly, half to her, half to the stone walls around them.

Sango was bewildered. How could he not be a Lord? That made no sense at all. He explained, "I was just a seamstress's son, no real money or prospects, when I moved here. Of course, I had, still have," he added with a light smirk, "a way with money, and I was accepted into Inuyasha's court once I had made a bit of a name for myself." He tilted his head downwards to look down at Sango, who was every part the attentive lover. "I told the Taisho I was born of some minor Lord who had taken up monkhood. He never had any reason to doubt that claim since there are so many Lords and Ladies scattered all about."

Tilting her chin upward, he sweetly captured her lips with his, and the two let themselves melt in each other's embrace for a moment. When they released each other, Miroku asked, "Do you know why I'm telling you this, Sango? No one else in the realm knows this." She shook her head. He took a careful breath and professed, "I...like you, Sango. You're different. I can tell. A man gets tired of keeping such a great secret, especially from someone he hopes will become more...important in his life." He looked in her eyes for some sort of response, but her emotions remained guarded.

Sango didn't know how to respond to that. For a moment, she felt a great guilt weigh on her, but she ruthlessly squashed that down before it could spread. "My L-" She cleared her throat, "Miroku, I don't think that...what you're proposing is wise. Even though you may not truly be a Lord, you are still one in everyone else's eyes. This - We could never be more than...this to each other."

Miroku looked ready to protest, but sighed and conceded. "At least accompany me as...this - whatever you must think you are - in my trip this week to the North," he implored. "I need the company. It's all boring guards around me whenever I make these journeys."

Sango's confusion appeared easily on her face. "But...why are you heading North?"

"I know kitchen maids have a tendency to gossip amongst themselves, so can you keep a secret?" Sango nodded without hesitation. "The Taisho has been...absent for a while, and I need to keep up with his duties in the North. He normally makes a trip up there once a year to check how things are going. It's dreadfully boring and rather unpleasant. Have I sold you on accompanying me yet, my Lady?" He asked, adding the last part jokingly.

"Of course, Miroku. I do need to tell the head cook Kaede, though."

"I'll have someone notify her," he caressed her hair lightly, smiling to himself.

Sango knew an opportunity when she saw one. "Miroku, why has the Taisho been absent lately? I don't recall seeing him at all." She asked, seemingly innocent.

"I'm afraid I can't say," he said regretfully.

Sango wanted to push him for more information, but didn't want to arouse any suspicion. "Of course." She untangled herself from his arms and began to get dressed. "I'll go see Kaede now and get ready."

Miroku smiled after her and waved as she left. He lay down on his bed and sighed wistfully. 'Sango.'

* * *

A deliberate wince escaped Onigumo as Kikyo slowly unwrapped his bandages.

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, my sister was always better at healing than I am. I bet it's terrible to be stuck with me, huh," she said in an attempt to distract him from the pain.

The injured man smiled with a slightly pained grimace. "Not at all, Lady Kikyo. Your kindness and generosity have been what's kept me going these past few days." Her face lit up in a graceful blush. Kikyo moved to wash his bloodied bandages in a nearby basin and Onigumo took the opportunity to study the curve of her backside. He forced down his arousal and groaned frustratedly. The last girl he'd fucked had been Naraku's "princess," and that was an eternity ago. He needed someone and soon or he would go ballistic. 'This girl's probably so proper and uptight she's still a virgin. I haven't had one of those in a while,' he thought deviously. Kikyo turned around again, and he immediately softened his face.

She rewrapped his injuries with clean bandages. "Is there anything else you need?"

"I just need to use your restroom, please." He gave her a charming smile. She helped him to the restroom and left him to his things. He relieved himself in the chamberpot and filled the wash basin with cold, clear water. He splashed the water on his face to get rid of whatever strange cream Kikyo kept rubbing on him and sat down to wait for the water to settle. When it was clear again, he stared into basin, waiting for his reflection to appear. An image of his face slowly crept into the clear waters and quickly morphed into a more familiar one.

"Nice to see you again, my friend," he greeted.

"What have you found out?" The image of Naraku got straight to the point.

"It's not this one. It's the younger sister, Kagome Higurashi. She's at some other estate but Kikyo hasn't told me which one. The girl was at his coronation and according to your witch - or was it your little spiders - she was the one that fucked the Taisho," Onigumo explained. He loved this, gossiping like two little girls with Naraku. "The girl's a good healer apparently. Spiritual powers, too. Might've fucked with the Taisho's transformation as she fucked him."

"Just call Inuyasha by his name, Onigumo. As for the problem of finding where Kagome is living...pay a visit to my Tsubaki, would you?" Naraku explained what he needed to do. "And get something for yourself while you're at it. The older sister is of little use to us after she gets you to Kagome, and you look terrible." The image disappeared immediately and Onigumo was staring back at his handsome reflection once more.

He made some excuse for Kikyo about needing time to think and made for the forest. Tsubaki's hut wasn't too hard to find, as it stunk with rotting flesh and blood and flowers. She sensed him as soon as he stepped into her garden of bodies and waved him inside.

"Here's what you need. Two drops." The beautiful, dark witch handed him a small tube of greenish liquid. "The boy'll live. Figured you might need him alive," she added, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I want something made for myself, too."

"Ah, yes, Naraku mentioned some lady troubles? I have just the thing for you." She gave him a seductive look and swung her hips. "Though...Are you sure you don't want me to help with that."

"No. I don't fuck old women unless I have to." He stated bluntly. A glare quickly replaced her seductive smile.

"Fine," she snarled, her lips curling nastily. "But you're paying for this. I'll want another pretty, young girl."

"Don't we all." He waved her off and took the second concoction from her. "She'll be here tomorrow morning."

He walked back to the house quickly, just in time to avoid being seen by Kikyo and her lady-in-waiting. Plastering a charming smile on his face once more, he approached the two. "My Ladies, your beautiful faces are always such welcoming sights for a sad and broken man like myself."

Kikyo immediately protested, declaring that he wasn't broken at all, but he graciously denied her compliments.

"I've been thinking all afternoon, and it would be a great honor if I could make you dinner tonight. As a thanks for all you've done."

"There is no need for thanks, my Lord! I couldn't let my guest cook!" Kikyo insisted, but Onigumo quickly interrupted her.

He held her soft hands in his and gently pressed a kiss upon them. "Please, just for tonight." Both the women flushed gracefully and Onigumo briefly wondered if they had ever had any male attention at all. This was so easy it was boring.

"I-if you would like, then of course you can cook. Y-you can do whatever you like," Kikyo offered.

That night, he had served them a delicious meal and delightful conversation.

The next morning, he lay awake, waiting. When he heard the morning bird's sweet chirping accompanied by Kikyo's desperate cries of her brother's name, a genuine smile lit his face. He basked in the moment for a minute before quickly jumping out of bed and rushing hurriedly to the chambers of Kikyo's lady-in-waiting.

"My Lady! There's something wrong with the young Lord Souta!"

"What? What has happened?" She jumped out of bed and dressed hurriedly. "I must see him at once!"

"No, Lady Kikyo has asked us specifically to find an herb in the forests. She says there is no one else she can trust," he lied smoothly.

"O-oh. That's so strange! Kikyo says to never enter the forest...But she must know what she's talking about. Kikyo always does," the foolish girl convinced herself.

He rushed out with the girl and led her straight into Tsubaki's garden. She hadn't even managed a scream before he knocked her out and tossed her onto the rest of the bodies. 'So pretty and so...stupid. Tsubaki will like her.'

When he made it back to the home, Kikyo was packing her things and Souta's. The boy lay in bed, unmoving and looking dreadfully yellow, but still alive. When he asked her what she was doing, she explained how she needed to get him to her sister. Kagome would know what to do, she insisted, still panicked and distraught. He played the part of the caring and concerned friend and asked to come along.

"You would come along for me? Thank you, Onigumo. The gods have been kind enough to give me a true friend in a time like this." To this, Onigumo didn't have to force a genuine smile.

* * *

Kagome angrily scrubbed dirt off the pots after eating dinner alone and set them down none-so-gently. Inuyasha. She let out a half frustrated, half infuriated growl. She wanted to hate him right now more than anything. He'd disappeared some time last morning and hadn't given any sign about where he was going, what was wrong or when he would come back.

'I can't believe I told him...that!' Some madness inside her. It had to be that. She'd thought she could trust him with that part of herself, but clearly she was wrong. He'd turned on her, treated her like some walking disease as soon as he heard what she said. 'I don't know what else I was expecting,' she scoffed, roughly scraping off the grease from her plate, 'that some random guy I find in the forest and nurse back to health will accept me and we'll be together forever?' What a joke. Life wasn't like the fairytales her mother used to read to her. She'd almost forgotten that when she met the sweet, shy, and strangely charming hanyou with adorable puppy ears she'd nursed back to health. Of course, now he'd reminded her exactly why she had to be stingy with her trust.

After the state of confusion he had left her in last morning, she was sick of moping around as if everything were her fault. She had been torn between worrying herself sick over him and wanting to punch him. For a while, the image of Inuyasha falling to the floor, screaming in agony, clouded her mind. It seemed like her words had put him in so much pain, but she had no idea what had happened.

Why had he looked at her like all his pain was her fault? Why had he pulled away from her like that? Where was he now?

Kagome shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Before she left the kitchen, she took one last glance out of her kitchen window to the dark forests beyond the estate's walls. "Stupid jerk," she muttered, though there was more sadness behind it than heat.

She readied for bed and climbed in to her sheets. 'No more Inuyasha, no more Inuyasha,' she chanted in her head, though the conflicting emotions boiling up inside her made it difficult to fall asleep. She had an impossible time sleeping the night before as well.

Counting slowly in her head, she let the silent echoes of the house lull her to sleep when footsteps suddenly roused her. She spun around to face her doorway and tried to revive her sleepy limbs. "Who's there? Show yourself," she commanded.

A shadowed figure stepped into the light and Kagome was about to launch herself at her arrows when her eyes locked onto the two tiny triangles atop the intruders head. "I-Inuyasha? Is that you?"

She heard him take a deep breath and step forward. 'It is him...'

He walked slowly to her and knelt down beside her futon. "I'm...I'm really sorry Kagome." She barely heard his whispered apology, but in that second all the day's anger melted away. His golden eyes shone luminously in the moonlight with regret and pain. "I didn't mean to do...any of that...I'm sorry." His calloused hand gently cupped her chin. "I -...sor-...Just please forgive me."

Kagome was slightly puzzled by his long apology, but perhaps he really did regret reacting the way he did. Emboldened by his words, she threw caution to the wind and hugged him. "I do, Inuyasha." His arms looped around her and she relished his clean, woodsy scent and the feeling of being embraced against his warm, strong chest.

"Thanks." Inuyasha took deep, almost desperate breaths of her smell, allowing the demon that had been raging the past two days to finally calm. What she did next he could have never imagined in a million years. Without releasing him from her embrace, she lay back down on the futon, pulling his shocked form down with hers. Inuyasha couldn't help sputtering slightly in surprise. He wasn't ready for _this_!

She sensed his panicked and quickly calmed him by rubbing his ears. "Just lie with me, Inuyasha. Nothing else. I didn't sleep well last night when you were gone," Kagome revealed, uncaring about how much she might regret this later. As angry as she was with him, she missed her doggy-eared...friend. "Make it up to me?"

"B-but it's not proper!"

"After what I told you yesterday, do you think I care about being a proper Lady?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. There was no one else around, no one to judge them.

"No..."

She nodded contentedly and rested her head on his shoulder. That night she slept easily.

* * *

Author's Note:

First, thanks again to those that reviewed. You are all lovely people, and I hope you are still enjoying this fanfic.

1. A quick explanation: Kagome's version of history and of why the name of the "King" position is called "Taisho" is that the previous ruler, Inuyasha's father, managed to defeat the demons (in what, we do not know!), and thus was nicknamed the Taisho (which translates roughly to "great demon"). Because of his supposed great ruling, they actually named the position after his nickname.

2. Also, jesus cheesus this was a hard chapter to write. None of the scenes felt quite right, though I did, as always, have fun writing about what Onigumo/Naraku are up to. I struggled a lot with the InuKag and MirSan scenes though. I struggle with emotions. It's a real life problem, people. Ugh. Hopefully it doesn't come across too well.

3. I am aware that this summary is kind of "wrong." Inuyasha as the Taisho probably wronged a lot more people/demons than just Kagome. I would fix it except lazy. Sorry.

Anyway, please review! Let me know what you thought worked or didn't work (politely, and constructively, of course, as then I am much more likely to take your advice!).


	4. A Spider's Venom

**Risen in Patria**

Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred, with demons and humans hateful of each other. Now, the fallen lord Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi. Together, the two must decipher the kingdom's history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.

Warnings: Violence and gore, language, OOC, mild sexual content, implied sexual relationships, implied rape

_A Spider's Venom_

Sango wanted to get out of this stuffy carriage as soon as possible. She was never the type that could sit in such a tight, confined space for long and it was driving her crazy. Knocking lightly on the thin wooden screen behind her, she asked impatiently, "How much longer until we get there?"

"Quiet, wench. We'll get there when we get there," the guard responded harshly. He didn't even understand why they had to escort the stupid servant girl anyway. This was a business trip, not a vacation for the whores of Lords, but he knew better than to comment on it aloud.

She scowled. Yet another reason to hate the incompetent people transporting them to the main Higurashi estate, the first being that they kept her and Miroku in separate carriages.

'As if everyone and their mothers didn't already know we were sleeping with each other," she thought with a roll of her eyes. 'It wouldn't be proper!' Sango mockingly mouthed what they said to her, perfectly affecting their shocked and indignant expressions.

She smiled slightly at her silliness. Though there was no one there to laugh at her antics, she knew that Miroku would have found it funny. He was a sweet and funny guy, completely unlike the prince – now Taisho. She frowned deeply at the thought of the Taisho having gone missing. Had something gone wrong? She hadn't been contacted by anyone outside of the castle for weeks, and it was unnerving.

Sighing to herself, she banished thoughts of spoilt rulers, sweet lovers and bumpy trips and tried to focus on simply relaxing for the rest of the trip. The sounds of nature felt like home to her, though that was the only real bonus of this trip so far. 'What was I thinking, deciding to come along?' she asked herself, but she already had the answer to that. Miroku, despite being excessively perverted and used to getting his way - she attributed that to his friendship with the Taisho - was a genuinely kind person. When he spoke to her, he spoke of peace for _all_ the people, and for an end to the fighting. That was what she wanted more than anything else, Sango thought. Miroku would have made a far better ruler than the current foolish, violent man.

Suddenly, the carriage pulled to a stop, and Sango rested her ear against the wooden door to hear what was happening outside. Her brows furrowed in suspicion when she caught harsh words exchanged outside. It wasn't uncommon for travelers to come across the occasional group of bandits, and Sango suspected that might have been the case here. She squinted against the decorated wooden door. From within the carriage, she could make out three figures ahead, the three head guards. Even further ahead, a blur of figures appeared, lining the edges of the forest road. 'Something's definitely wrong.' Lightly fingering the dagger hidden in the thick folds of her winter dress, she drew comfort from the familiar feel of deadly metal in her hands.

The shine of steel and swords among the shadowed figures ahead suggested that these visitors brought no friendly tidings, and her grip on the dagger's handle tightened in response. Sango knew fighting would give her away, but she couldn't deny her excitement at the mere thought of handling a blade again, however small, and of letting it guide her hand through flesh.

A lone man stepped out of the shadowed men towards the court travelers and the guards, his face hidden in a sinister, black and white mask. Sango kept a careful eye on the carriage ahead of her for a sign of Miroku. Whether he simply trusted the guards to take care of the problem or he was too frightened to reveal himself, she didn't care, as long as the fake Lord stayed put. His hands were too soft to handle a weapon, she thought.

"We don't care who you are. This is the royal guard. Move or we will cut you down, in the name of the Taisho," she head a guard at the front threaten, as he angled his spear slightly towards the group.

The face behind the mask laughed, a deep laugh that sent tremors up even Sango's spine. As she looked at it more carefully, she couldn't let go of the feeling that there was a demonic presence looming around him.

"The royal guard. Ah, the gods favor me today." The masked figure waved his force forward and Sango counted a good twenty men.

They had fewer men, Sango thought thankfully, but seeing two masked faces in the crowd made her more anxious than she was willing to admit.

The mercenaries of old times, her ancestors, used to wear masks for the slaughter. 'To protect their souls,' she remembered from her father's old tales. "Silent men" were their names. Up until her father's generation, it was tradition to have their tongues ripped out by adulthood, "to prevent their dying screams," her father had explained. The silent men were outlawed long ago, in the days of the old Taisho, but the sinking feeling in her stomach grew uncontrollably.

She watched carefully, adrenaline and blood pumping fiercely through her veins, as the guards readied their weapons. She could sense the smile behind the masked leader's face. He raised an arm, stopping the demons, and added, "The spider sends his deepest regrets," before waving forth his hand. At that, the battle began and Sango moved to action. As she thrust open the door, she saw men from both sides rush forward like two waves colliding, but what nearly stopped her heart were the two men, one masked, one unmasked, that easily cut their way through to Miroku's carriage.

Driven by an unnamable force, she ran with all her might towards the carriage. The unmasked man caught sight of her, seemed to roll his eyes and turned to take care of her. 'Poor sucker,' Sango thought, smirking internally. Surprise was always the best advantage. Easily ducking under his sword's blow, she grasped the dagger, ripped it out of her dress, and cut his stomach open in one swipe, spilling the man's innards at her feet.

"Sorry." she said with a light smirk, as the shocked man fell lifelessly to the dirt road. She quickly picked up his sword, testing its weight as she turned to the masked man. She heard Miroku's sharp gasp from the carriage, having clearly seen what she had just done, but kept from turning to check on him. Soaking in the sound of death and violent cries around her, she made her move toward the silent man.

Each blow tested his responses, feeling for weak spots. She danced around his blade, a light "Zugaikotsu" sword forged from demon skulls. His weapon gave him away as a silent man immediately, and Sango intended to use this to her advantage. 'At least it seems we're on equal footing, trained in the same art.' She thought.

He guarded his head so well that she was getting frustrated trying to sever it from his shoulders. 'Every man has a weakness.' She dodged one of his swings again, bringing her hands near his legs and stomach. Having anticipated another strike, the man moved to block her sword, but Sango used that distraction to plunge her dagger into his groin, cutting down everything in its path. He collapsed, a silent scream forcing its way out of his mouth behind the mask, and she quickly slit his throat to end his agony.

His dying eyes flashed before her, and Sango shared a moment of recognition before swiftly turning to drag Miroku out of the carriage.

"S-Sango! Oh gods! Are you alright? What was that? I-...y-you...how did you...what in the world is going on?" Miroku screamed, panicked and close to hyperventilating. He went with her unyieldingly as she yanked him out. A quick look around them showed that most of the men from both sides were dead, with maybe five or six good men fighting on each side. Neither of the silent men remained, the other having died taking down five or six of the royal guard.

To the side, the leader stood watching, untouched and almost...bored by the proceedings.

"Hmm...slayer. I believe I'm not to kill you. You're decent, I give you that. But nothing special really. I do wonder...why you must be kept alive unless you are just another fly caught in this endless web?" The black and white mask cocked to the side as if confused. "Well, you can't be that important. I hope you and -" Sango heard the face behind the mask take a sniff. "…your whore of a Lord give me good sport," was his warning before he cut his way through the remaining fighters, indiscriminately killing his own fighters and the royal guard.

Roughly throwing Miroku to the side and ignoring his pained grunt, she immediately raised her borrowed blade to meet his. His one armed swing was more powerful than anything she had ever blocked, and Sango used all her might, straining every muscle in her body, merely preventing herself from being sliced in half by his attack.

The mask chuckled, the laughter echoing ominously behind the clay wall. "You smell good, you know that? I can see why the Lord over there spends so much time fucking you." Sango growled up at him, still unable to push back his sword, and their metals screeched against one another in their suffering. "I might even honor the both of you by fucking your corpses when I'm done," he whispered maliciously to her, striking blue eyes glinting amusedly down.

Feeling her leg muscles straining beneath her, Sango decided to switch tactics and relented under his sword, quickly darting to the left to avoid the slice. 'Calm. Fight with a calm head.' She mentally chanted, refusing to grant his taunts with an answer. She caught Miroku struggling with a stray fighter to the side, but could only pray that he or one of the few remaining guards could get themselves out of their alive.

As soon as she was out of his grasp, the masked man attacked her again with inhuman speed. Sango barely escaped death and certain mutilation. He came again and again, laughing as he relentlessly chased her down. 'What the hell is this guy? How is he moving so goddamned fast?' She thought breathlessly, narrowly evading him each time. Her suspicions of his youkai nature were growing. How else could he swing so hard? Move so quickly he was damn near imperceptible? She had been one of her clan's greatest fighters, but against him, she was sure her life would end today.

A pained cry drew both of their attentions to Miroku as he clutched his bleeding shoulder with his hand. He'd apparently stabbed the man fighting him, but had been injured in the process. "Miroku!" Sango called out, running to his side with incredible speed.

"Nuh-uh-uh, my little slayer." The masked man moved faster, placing himself between Sango and Miroku. "How curious you humans are. Do masters normally mean so much to their whores? Or is it just you?"

Sango swung furiously at him, enraged at the sight of Miroku bleeding on the ground, but he blocked her easily and turned to grab Miroku. The sharp blade was poised at Miroku's throat before she could even react, and both she and Miroku froze in terror.

"You move, he dies." The man taunted fearlessly.

"S-Sango," Miroku grunted out, blood dripping down his arm.

'Crap. How do I get him out of this?' Sango's thoughts ran furiously. Time slowed to a million beats per second as she carefully assessed the situation. When he grabbed Miroku's injured arm, Sango tightened her grip on the sword, but he pressed his own sword into Miroku's throat, creating a red sliver of pain. With a haunting laugh, the masked man sunk his teeth into Miroku's arm, eliciting a strangled scream from his limp hostage. Sango watched his pain helplessly, every moment of his suffering tormenting her.

A sudden blade of light shooting down from above the trees sent the three into chaos. The masked man dropped Miroku and dodged the blow, growling at the intruder. A hundred more blades of light shot down from the skies, destroying everything in their path, though Sango noticed that they were mostly aimed at the masked man. When one of them cut down the man, Sango took the opportunity to grab the faint Miroku and carried him as far from the scene of battle as she could.

She ran desperately into the forest, but not before catching sight of the feather floating beyond the trees. 'The wind witch? What is she doing here and why...?' Miroku's groan forced her out of her thoughts and after a glance told her that there didn't seem to be any other survivors, she carried her injured lover into the trees.

After half an hour of searching, Sango finally spotted what looked like a safe and abandoned den. Exhaustedly dragging a pale and weakened Miroku in, she set to work bandaging his injuries, all the while thoughts of spiders and demons and wind witches haunted her mind.

* * *

Crack. Split. Plop. Crack. Split. Plop.

The rhythm of breaking open eggs calmed Inuyasha as he and Kagome prepared breakfast at the crack of dawn. She was humming softly to herself, seemingly caught up in her own world, but Inuyasha's thoughts were tangled and tied in knots. He'd returned to her arms the night before, but it had been bittersweet.

'Would you forgive me if you knew what I had truly done, Kagome?'

The two days he had spent in the forest had been long, miserable days. The night's events replayed over and over in his head, burning those images on his retinas, and when his body betrayed him, arousing at the memory, he never felt more disgusting – more like the beast he had been calling himself.

He hadn't even realized how much her scent warmed him in the night until the first night away. 'I couldn't catch a wink of sleep without her.' And he was hesitant to succumb to her plea that he stay last night, but in the end, he gave in willingly to what the both of them desired. Her arms around him had been the safest place on earth, where his guilt and pain and misery melted away. 'I needed that. Does that make me a bad person? Taking advantage of her that way?'

Inuyasha had never been the type of person to question his character or his morals. A Taisho was always right. What he did was the will of the gods, his tutors had told him as a child, but he couldn't get her anger out of his head. She'd spoken about him, the Taisho, with such hatred that he didn't know what to do. 'Do other people think that way about me too?' His throat tightened at the thought that the very people who smiled and encouraged him secretly hated him. For nearly a year, he was convinced that Kagome Higurashi would be the Taisho's - his - wife. He never once guessed how she really felt about him. Well, he'd wanted an inside look, and he'd gotten one, he thought wryly.

Part of him had wanted to scream at her that she was wrong. He wasn't a terrible person! A harsh ruler, perhaps, but he had to be! And he certainly wasn't to blame for what happened to her family! He'd only been a teenager...doing what he thought was the right thing.

The other part of him wanted to flee...from the memories...the guilt...everything. It knew that he had done terrible things and that his latest crime was only another to add to his list. 'I...r-ra...' Even in his own head, Inuyasha couldn't get the word out, his crime. How did he expect himself to confess it to her aloud?

Kagome's voice pulled him from his pained thoughts. "Inuyasha, are you alright?" Her worried brown eyes danced with his from across the room.

"Oh...Yeah. I'm fine." He replied.

She put down her dish and closed the distance between them. "Is this about last night?" Boldly, Kagome reached for his hand, taking the egg from his grip. "Inuyasha, I told you I forgave you. I don't know why you ran away, but you came back and apologized."

Inuyasha cringed, and it must have shown on his face because Kagome let his hand drop from hers, hurt by his response. He instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand, reassuring her.

"It's...not that," he got out. 'I have to tell her now. Before it's too late. She'll hate me forever if she finds out later.' He thought, but the words weren't coming out of his mouth no matter how he tried.

His internal struggle evident on his face, Kagome squeezed his hand, feeling that he needed her support. She was a bit perplexed at exactly what was bothering the hanyou, since things had seemed to go so well last night.

Maybe, he was regretting coming back..."Inuyasha, why did you run away?" She asked in a whisper, almost afraid of his answer. She had feared that he was disgusted with her, with her impurity. Normally, she wouldn't give a rat's ass about what other people thought of "purity," but the idea that Inuyasha found her reviling made her chest ache painfully.

'Tell her. Tell her the truth!' Inuyasha knew this was the moment and clenched his eyes shut in preparation. He wanted so badly to purge himself of the crime. It would be a blatant lie to say he didn't want her forgiveness. In his dreams, she forgave him, she loved him, and she held him in her arms every night with his conscience cleared. 'Do I deserve that?' Inuyasha growled in frustration. He'd never had to think about "deserving" things as a Taisho. A ruler deserved everything. 'Maybe that's the problem...' he acknowledged. His week or so with Kagome had given him the truth, more truth than all his advisors combined had given him in a lifetime. He had never needed someone the way he needed Kagome now.

"I..." he started, but the words choked in his throat. He tried to picture her shocked and hurt face, despising him for his betrayal. Would he be able to take that? As a Taisho, he had his pride and power to hide behind when facing those who opposed him. He could have them killed with a snap of his fingers. He was invincible, untouchable. But here...here in the North, with only Kagome by his side, he had nowhere to hide. Her words had the power to touch him, destroy him or sooth him as she willed, and he simply couldn't face her hatred when he told her. "I...just got so angry." He finally said, cursing himself for lying to her face. "I couldn't stand that someone had..." The word caught in his throat again and Inuyasha looked down in shame. "I'm sorry."

Relieved, Kagome smiled at him. "Thanks, Inuyasha." He looked up in shock at her thanks. What in the world was she thanking him for? "...for caring." She tiptoed and hugged him around his neck. Unable to stop himself, Inuyasha reciprocated and wrapped his arms around her. Though he still couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth, she was right. He did care about her. While he had only wanted her for her beauty just a few weeks ago, now he could see how much more there was to her.

As her scent caressed his nose, he rumbled contentedly and closed his eyes peacefully. There really was no better place than in her arms, he thought. Life was funny, he decided. When he wanted her as the most powerful man in the land, she had scorned him, but when he held her as...as no more than a beast, she willingly brought him closer.

Regretfully, Kagome released him and stepped back. His arms reluctantly loosened around her, the demon in him whining for more time in her embrace. They stared at each other for a long moment, golden amber kissing rich brown eyes, before Kagome laughed happily and turned away.

'Inuyasha really is something different,' she thought. The inu-hanyou had been steadily creating a spot for himself in her heart since she met him, and the way he looked at her, held her, drew her in faster than she could understand. Had this been ten or fifteen years ago, she would have been whipped for even talking to him. The divide between humans and demons was that severe after the Great War. But now, now she dared to think about the silver-haired hanyou staying longer with her. There was no one to control them, and the Higurashi family no longer held enough power for their marriages to make a significant difference to the political games of the high lords. The only reason why men asked for her hand in marriage these days was for her face, and she wasn't about to marry for something so superficial. 'I want someone to care about and someone who cares about me, too.' She thought with a peak at the hanyou to her left.

They returned to their previous tasks for a few minutes, working in a comfortable silence. Inuyasha avoided thinking too much about what to do as he didn't want to be put in a bad mood, and simply let himself bask in her scent and her kindness.

"I'm heading north today to get some more medicines." Kagome broke the silence. "Would you like to accompany me?"

"Why are you heading north? Can't you just get medicine from one of the towns nearby?" It didn't sit well with him to have her go up north.

"I have a friend who grows the herbs I need up north. Most of the medicine here won't work as well for demons, and I'm running low on those." Kagome explained.

Inuyasha read between the lines easily enough. "Oh...Sorry about that."

"No! Inuyasha, you don't have to be sorry!" Kagome laughed and threw her head back. Inuyasha found himself entranced by the smooth curve of her neck, the way her unbound hair danced on her back. "What else is demon medicine for other than to help out people like you?" She reached forward to tweak his ear lightly. "I just need some more, for emergencies. Plus, I haven't seen my friend in a while. I think you'll really like him." She finished with a strangely secretive smile.

Inuyasha watched her cheeriness suspiciously. Male friend? He bristled at the thought of Kagome with another male and found himself releasing a growl subconsciously. Kagome turned to him, startled by his growl, and he immediately stopped at her puzzled look. "Clearing my throat..." he explained feebly at the question on her face.

"Alright...well if you want to come along, you're welcome to. I just figured you're probably bored out of your mind doing nothing all day."

Inuyasha wasn't about to let Kagome go traipsing around alone in the forest, especially if she was visiting a man. "I'll go with you." He declared, feeling somewhat valiant. Perhaps he couldn't admit yet what he'd done, but he'd at least put to use his demon strengths by protecting the girl if she was venturing into demon-infested territory.

"Great! We should leave in about twenty minutes, after breakfast."

Inuyasha nodded and the two quickly finished preparing and eating breakfast. As they stepped out of the quiet home, Kagome strapped on a knapsack and her bow and quiver of arrows to her back. At Inuyasha's shocked face, she laughed. "I've made this trip enough times to know that it's dangerous. I'm not foolish enough to go in unprotected." She shut the door behind them, locking the entrance, and led him to the mouth of the forest.

They began their journey down a well-trodden path, and Inuyasha noticed that he couldn't sense or smell any other demons around. Their walk was peaceful and uninterrupted. Inuyasha mused to Kagome, "I don't know why, but I always imagined traveling in the forests to be a lot more...dangerous."

"It used to be. You're probably used to demon and human conflicts wherever you're from." Kagome's comment reminded him of his cover story. "Like I said, I make this trip quite a few times a year, and I've been coming here for nearly a decade. My friend is actually a large reason I'm still alive today, so I visit him whenever I can."

Inuyasha's stomach churned uncomfortably at the admiration in his voice. Was this...jealousy? He had tried to detach himself from Kagome in his guilt, but everything she did since meeting him only drew him closer, and now he could hardly stand to hear her even talk about another man.

Oblivious to his discomfort, Kagome explained, "I scared off most of the hostile demons a while ago, so I haven't been bothered on a trip for a long time."

Inuyasha nodded in understanding and enjoyed the peaceful silence for the remainder of the walk. He noticed the trees beginning to thin and soon Kagome led him to a small, open field with plants and herbs of all kind sprouting in the neat rows of dirt. The sun's rays gleamed against the silky dirt and Inuyasha found himself marveling at the beauty of this little farm.

"Come on." Kagome grabbed his hand and dragged him toward a small hut near the center of the field. "I want you to meet my friend."

Before they even made it onto the farmland, Inuyasha felt the ground begin to rumble and shake. "Kagome! Don't move!" He hurriedly yelled out, pulling her behind him. He crouched, ready to fight whatever was threatening them, when a gargantuan figure emerged from the hut. Its arms spread wide and an enormous smile on its face as it ran and jumped towards them, rocking the earth dangerously with every step.

"Kagome!" It cried out gleefully, but a fierce growl from Inuyasha stopped it in its tracks. Inuyasha watched him cower, transforming from happy to terrified in moments at his glare. Kagome swiftly put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Inuyasha, it's okay!" She stepped in front of him, and the beast's eyes lit up again at the sight of her face. "This is Jinenji. He's not going to hurt us." When Inuyasha relaxed slightly at her words, she turned to face the frightened giant, who had curled into a half-crouch.

"Hi Jinenji," she walked up to Jinenji and rubbed his back comfortingly. Jinenji, while terrifyingly large, was also the gentlest and sweetest man she knew, and as soon as he felt her touch, his cheerful smile returned. He excitedly swept her up into a huge and powerful hug and Kagome laughed along with him. Inuyasha watched alertly as the creature swung her around, prepared to attack should the demon decide to turn hostile. When Jinenji finally let Kagome return to the earth, she introduced the two of them. "Jinenji, this is Inuyasha. Inuyasha, Jinenji."

Inuyasha took his time sizing up the demon, taking in his bulging arms and legs, the scars striped across his skin, and finally, his enormous, clear blue eyes. 'The hell? I didn't know her 'friend' was a demon. And just what kind of demon is he...?' Despite his time with Kagome, he still felt an initial suspicion towards demons, and though Kagome clearly didn't fear this one, he wasn't about to let down his guard. 'Plus, those scars are from fights. He could be dangerous.'

Jinenji blinked slowly and shyly hid behind Kagome. Inuyasha would have laughed at the comical sight of the massive demon hiding behind such a small human girl if he weren't so focused on sorting out all the smells and sights that accompanied the demon. "Hi," the demon spoke softly, as if speaking louder would provoke Inuyasha.

Seeing Kagome's optimistic face got Inuyasha to respond to Jinenji's shy greeting. "Hello..."

"See? That wasn't so bad." Kagome looked up at Jinenji with her pretty browns and smiled encouragingly. Jinenji's face lit up, coloring a deep tomato-red at her smile, and Inuyasha's stomach turned uncomfortably again.

'Is Kagome...involved with this guy or something?' He had to hold back his disgust at even the thought of this Jinenji desiring Kagome. 'Beasts shouldn't want to be with humans that way.' A voice in his reminded him that he wanted Kagome too, even as a hanyou, but he quickly stifled it by reasoning that he wasn't really a demon, only a human temporarily cursed as one.

"Come on. Let's go inside." Kagome finally spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. Jinenji's soft blue eyes shifted from his, and he tenderly picked Kagome up, walking them into the hut.

Inuyasha tried to tell himself that he disliked how familiar the two acted with each other because he didn't think humans should be so close to demons, but a part of him knew it was something else. It would be a blatant lie to say he didn't to hold Kagome that way but he feared her disgust, and he hated that this demon had the guts to do what he hadn't. Silently grumbling behind the cozy pair, Inuyasha followed Jinenji into his home.

After the three of them had squeezed themselves into the tiny and rather empty hut, Kagome settled on the ground between the two demons and began talking. "Jinenji, I was hoping I could trade you for some medicines and herbs." She set down her backpack and pulled out small wooden containers of food. "I prepared some of your favorites this morning." Smiling cheekily, she opened the containers and Jinenji clapped giddily. Inuyasha could see a plethora of vegetables and fruits and tofus, reds and greens and violets and oranges arranged neatly. The fruits were dipped in a number of sauces he was unfamiliar with, but Jinenji let out a shout of joy at the sight.

"I have lots of stuff for you!" Jinenji rose up, though the ceiling of his hut only allowed him to crouch. He shuffled over to a small cabinet, his shoulders barely fitting under the ceiling, and pulled out handfuls of herbs before handing them over to Kagome.

"Thanks, Jinenji! These are great!" Kagome grinned up at him. "Though of course I know by now that you're the best." Again, Jinenji flushed vibrant red under her praise, and Inuyasha felt a sting of jealousy at how friendly Kagome acted towards the giant.

"So...uh...are we leaving now?" He asked awkwardly, feeling uncomfortably vulnerable under the giant's piercing blue eyes. He didn't enjoy seeing Kagome and the demon get all comfy with each other and would rather spend the rest of the day with just Kagome and himself.

"Don't leave yet, Kagome!" Jinenji turned watery eyes to Kagome. "You haven't come to play with me for so long! Please stay!" Jinenji's bulbous eyes began to water tearfully, as he pleaded for his only friend to stay.

Inuyasha watched the demon and found his disgust turning to pity. 'He seems so…lonely.' Inuyasha thought.

"Inuyasha, do you mind if we stay a bit longer?" Kagome wanted to be there for Jinenji, but she didn't want to upset or trouble her new friend either.

As much as he wanted to leave, Inuyasha couldn't resist Kagome's puppy eyes. "Fine." He grunted out, annoyed at how easily he gave in, but when her face lit up thankfully, he found himself glad that he had agreed to stay.

The demon picked Kagome up and carried her outside to play. Inuyasha followed dutifully, watching carefully as Kagome and Jinenji tumbled and ran outside like toddlers. He wanted to make sure that Kagome wouldn't be injured by the giant, but as he watched them frolic, it became obvious that the gentle giant would sooner kill himself than let any hurt come to Kagome. He made sure each fall landed on his back and touched her with the most tenderness Inuyasha had ever seen.

Watching them play brought on the strange urge to look at his own claws. 'Sharp, hard, deadly…' he thought, but the same frightening claws on Jinenji's hands would never harm Kagome. Inuyasha knew that simply by watching them play and laugh in the field. 'Mine won't bring Kagome harm either,' He assured himself. While he wasn't pleased with his transformation and current form, he would put his abilities to use by keeping her safe.

He took a deep breath of the autumn air to calm himself, but it had the opposite effect as he caught something ominous in the air. "Kagome!" He yelled out, and she looked up in surprise. "Get back here!"

She ran over immediately, the giant thumping along right behind her. "What's wrong, Inuyasha?"

"I can smell something weird in the air. Demons, I think." Jinenji's face turned to terror, but Kagome soothingly put hand on his back. Inuyasha watched the interaction skeptically. 'Seriously…how has this guy managed to stay alive for so long, especially in the north?' From what he knew, it was kill or be killed up here, and this guy looked so meek and timid, Inuyasha thought it a miracle he hadn't died in childhood.

Kagome nodded at him and notched an arrow, holding it slackened in her hands. "Go inside, Jinenji." When his frightened eyes teared up, she assured him. "We'll be fine, don't worry." After he had safely made it inside the hut, Kagome turned to Inuyasha, eyes hard and ready for whatever was coming. "I can sense them now. Three demons, I think. Can you smell what kind they are?"

He raised his powerful nose to the air again but shook his head when he couldn't pick up much more than his first sniff had told him. Truthfully, he still needed to really learn to use his enhanced senses, and he had spent the past few weeks hating them instead of practicing them. "Maybe you should go inside, too. Just in case," Inuyasha suggested, not wanting to put Kagome in danger.

"No way. And leave you out here to fight them alone?" Kagome gave him an incredulous look, as if questioning his sanity. "Plus, maybe I can resolve this without fighting."

"Keh! Don't be naïve. Demons always want to fight. They're violent creatures," Inuyasha scoffed.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Not all of them. Have a little faith in your own species, will you?"

'Half-species,' Inuyasha thought with a frown. He wasn't fond of being reminded that he was _still_ half-demon.

They could both sense the demons nearing Jinenji's herb field, and their muscles tensed in preparation. A lone figure walked out of the forested boundaries, purple silks and hair fluttering innocuously in the breeze. Instinctively, Inuyasha released a growl to warn the demon from approaching. While he could only see one demon, he could smell the others behind.

The figure stopped in his approach. Kagome withheld a shiver at the demon. Something about him didn't seem right. "I thought we smelled a filthy half-breed." He spoke with a soft, rasping voice.

"Keh! This one's going to kill you unless you get out of here." Inuyasha threatened, crouching low with his claws poised. It was strange, fighting without a sword, but using his claws felt oddly natural. Next to him, Kagome aimed her arrow, and he saw a pink purifying light glow in his periphery.

"Big talk for a little guy." The demon retorted calmly. Right on cue, Inuyasha felt the ground shake even more violently than it did when Jinenji stomped, and a grotesque demon colored purple and green stepped out of the woods with a club the size of Jinenji's hut. "My friend here eats pathetic half-breeds like you for breakfast."

"Well then," Inuyasha's leg muscles bunched up tightly, "I'll make it my personal goal to save them!" In half a second, he leapt forward, claws poised to cut through the soft belly of the giant demon. The mountainous creature barely had time to react before Inuyasha's claws were buried in its guts, ripping through the tissue and organs in their path. The monster let out a pained roar as Inuyasha tore him open, and in his next move, Inuyasha cut off its head, ending its misery.

'That was almost too easy,' He thought arrogantly.

He turned to face the other demon, senses on alert for the last one remaining somewhere beyond the forest border. The other demon frowned slightly at the death of his companion. "It's really hard to find decent help these days," He sighed tiredly. Kagome breathed warily at the way he spoke. The words didn't seem right coming out of his mouth. "At least I don't have to pay him anymore."

"Shut up, filth!" Inuyasha growled, preparing to launch once more. He leapt at the demon, swinging his claws, but the demon easily dodged each of his attacks, moving far faster than the enormous giant.

Kagome watched them carefully, her arrow moving with the demon. 'I can't get a shot in with him moving about like that! I could hit Inuyasha on accident.' She thought, frustrated at her current uselessness. 'I'll just make sure that he doesn't manage to hurt Inuyasha.' So far, the demon only dodged Inuyasha's attacks, never moving to attack himself.

Inuyasha and the demon were still engaged in a seemingly endless dance, and neither side was advancing. Tuning out Inuyasha's curses of frustration, Kagome narrowed her eyes worriedly as she began to sense the other demonic aura moving steadily towards them.

Her eyes darted along the borders of Jinenji's farm. 'Where is it…?' She could feel the aura just fine, but nothing was coming into sight. Her heart tensed horribly as she sensed the aura tangling with Inuyasha's. 'Where _is_ he?'

Pre-occupied with fighting the lavender-haired demon, Inuyasha had no way to prepare for the next attack. From the ground behind him, all Kagome could see was a sharp flash of light shooting up at Inuyasha. She immediately released an arrow in the direction of the light, but it was too late. In the next second, she saw Inuyasha collapse to the ground, bent over his stomach, blood tingeing his red cloak.

"Inuyasha!" She screamed in horror. 'What just happened?' Firing another purifying arrow at the visible demon, she ran over to her collapsed friend, readily shooting an arrow when the demon made its first move to strike. "Inuyasha, what happened? Are you okay?" There was still no sign of whatever demon had created the bright light, but Kagome could feel its aura clashing with her own.

"K-Kago…me…" Inuyasha whispered. Kagome winced at the mouthful of blood that resulted from just the effort to speak.

"Shh…I'll keep you safe." Using every bit of her strength, she grabbed onto Inuyasha and carried him towards Jinenji's hut. Her grip tightened on her bow as she hobbled over, prepared to erect a barrier around them should the demon attack, but the demon merely stood, half-lidded lavender eyes shining dimly at her. Keeping both eyes fixed on his chilling face, Kagome called out for Jinenji. Whatever created that flash of light was still hidden, and the sinking feeling in Kagome's gut grew sickening as an ominous aura began to spread through her. 'What _was_ that thing?'

"Kagome." The demon breathed out coarsely. "Is that what the half-breed called you?"

Kagome wasn't dumb enough to reply. She let Jinenji take Inuyasha to the side, praying that the sight of another hanyou wouldn't further aggravate this demon. Fortunately or unfortunately – she wasn't sure – the lavender demon seemed completely focused on her. "A Higurashi." He stated knowingly. "Higurashi, Defender of the North," the demon said mockingly, and again Kagome had to withhold shivers at the way he said her family name. Something about his mouth and his voice and that bright light was so wrong.

His lips seemed to move…after the words left his mouth.

Stretching her aura the way her older sister Kikyo taught her, Kagome felt around for the second demon. Keeping an eye on the lavender demon, though he didn't seem in a rush to attack her at all, she could feel her aura narrowing in on a spot in the ground. 'What? Is it a…gopher demon or something?' She felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins and used it to focus on the origin of the second demon's aura, but she was finding it impossible to separate it from the lavender demon's. 'I've never felt two auras like this before.' She thought warily.

"What do you want from us?" She asked, arrow notched warningly.

"At first, to rid the world of those unnatural monstrosities." He lifted a finger towards the two hanyou off to the side. "Now, _you_ have my full attention."

Kagome furrowed her brows. The demon's lips had stopped moving completely, so who was speaking?

"Well you can fix that attention elsewhere," she barked back. "You've got the wrong girl."

She watched, more scared than she was willing to admit to herself, as the lavender-haired demon slowly shut his eyes and shook his head. However, her attention was drawn away from him as she felt the second demon moving straight towards her. She darted away, sensing him as best she could.

'I can sense him better if I separate them!' She realized and began running strategically away from both the hanyous and the other demon. Strangely, the lavender-haired demon remained unmoving, as if waiting for something to happen. Kagome didn't have much time to ponder what his plan was since the demon currently chasing her down was a lot faster than she was.

For his part, Inuyasha was struggling to even sit up and watch, much less help Kagome. 'Fuck, what the hell attacked me?' He thought, trying to clear the haze of pain. Whatever it was had practically ripped a hole through him, and sharp agony shot through his whole body.

"Don't move yet," he heard Jinenji whisper. Jinenji was carefully wrapping up his bloodied midsection, and Inuyasha cringed away at the sight of torn flesh and blood.

'Did that attack actually…rip a hole through me?' Inuyasha thought incredulously. How was that even possible? He didn't even see anything attack him…and surely he would be dead.

He watched Kagome as best he could. She darted left and right, avoiding some invisible creature, and if he didn't feel like a train was currently running him over, he would have yelled out something along the lines of "What the hell are you doing?" However, Kagome was clearly doing something – he didn't know what it was, but for now he would just have faith that the girl hadn't lost her mind – and that left the silent, unmoving demon for himself.

"Jinenji, are you almost done?" He asked, holding back a wince.

"You can't be thinking about getting back up to fight? There is a _hole_ in your body!" Jinenji cried out, his bulbous eyes bulging in shock.

"Well, fuck. I can't leave Kagome to fight both of them alone!"

When Jinenji secured his bandages, Inuyasha pulled himself off the ground, swaying unsteadily from the loss of blood. He charged at the unmoving demon, swiping his claws fearlessly, but even with its eyes closed, the demon managed to dodge in time.

He attacked again and again, leaping at the demon, though his movements were severely retarded by his injury. However, every time he jumped the demon reacted faster and faster. 'How the hell is he doing this with his eyes closed?' Inuyasha really hated feeling so damned clueless about what was going on. What he hated even more, though, was how the demon evaded him effortlessly and made no move to attack him at all.

The lavender-haired demon seemed mostly concerned with dancing rapidly around him, and moving him around aimlessly.

He heard Kagome still scrambling around in the background, but she was moving farther and farther away. 'Where is she going?' He risked a glance behind him, but she was already somewhere in the woods, out of his sight. 'Fuck!' He decided the passive lavender-haired demon wasn't of great concern at the moment and took off after Kagome, following her scent.

"Kagome!" He yelled in her direction. Jumping into the thick of the forest, he immediately spotted her completely frozen in spot. She turned wide eyes up at him as he yelled, "Kagome! What are you doing?"

"_Inuyasha!_" She whispered hurriedly to him. "_Don't move!_"

"What? Why? What – "

She cut him off, quietly explaining, "I think it senses us through the vibrations in the ground. It's been wandering around rather aimlessly since I stopped."

"It?" He wanted to sigh in frustration. Nothing was making sense.

"The second demon…I can sense it in the ground, and I think it's what attacked you and – oh! What are you even doing running about?" She suddenly cried out, reminded that he had been injured.

"Well I had to take care of the other one!"

An abrupt shift in the winds brought the scent of that second demon to him again. Kagome seemed to sense him too, and the both of them slowly turned their eyes to watch the intruder. His glowing purple eyes stared at them, and Inuyasha felt the hairs on his arms and legs stand on end at the disconcerting stare.

"Inuyasha, what's going on? I thought you took care of this one." Kagome spoke softly and didn't dare chance a look at Inuyasha. She couldn't wrap her head around it, but there was something so frightening about this pair of demons.

"It's eyes were closed…I don't know why they're open now," Inuyasha said, baffled by what was happening. Where was Miroku when he needed him? Miroku was the thinker, he was the fighter.

An idea popped into Kagome's mind just as she sensed a movement in the second demon. 'Run!' She turned to scream at Inuyasha, but it was too late.

An immense light blinded her just as she heard a strangled scream from her friend. "Inuyasha!" She cried out, running without hesitation to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha!" The hanyou fell to the ground, shaking violently, an enormous cut carved across his chest. "No…" she whispered, cradling him against her and desperately looking for the demon that had done this. 'This can't be happening…not again!' She yelled out for Jinenji and gingerly set Inuyasha's head against the roots of a tree, furiously blinking away the sting of tears.

"_Delicious."_ Kagome heard a deep, rasping voice ring through the forest._ "Half-breed flesh is always so refreshing."_ Her reddened eyes shot down to a small, wrinkly creature licking its bloodied pincers. _"Nice to finally see you, Kagome of the Higurashi clan. I am Kageromaru and that is Juromaru, my eyes and ears."_

'Their faces…they have the same face,' Kagome thought as she looked between the two demons. Ignoring the strange thought and standing up steadily, she notched an arrow at the slimy creature. "I'm going to kill you," she swore with hatred lining her threat. She forced her arms to stop shaking, whether from anger or shock. The pasty demon gave her a hungry smirk, and she fired, the shining arrow missing the demon by a hair. At her attack, Juromaru leapt at her, forcing her to redirect her aim.

Again and again she shot at the two demons, but Kageromaru was too fast and small, his slithering body weaving in and out of the earth, and Juromaru too strong. A punch from the larger, powerful demon splintered the tree behind her as Kagome barely escaped her death. Running for her life, she pushed herself deeper and deeper into the forest, away from Inuyasha. Hoping with all her might that Jinenji could save the injured inu-hanyou, she focused on keeping herself alive.

* * *

Darkness. He was swimming through the opaque, murky depths of pain, black fires burning through his veins.

'Gods! Ev-everything…hurts!' He mentally screamed out as he felt foreign hands pressing down on him. 'Kagome!' He cried out for her, but there was no response, no escape for him. The flames danced on his chest, searing him beneath his skin, and Inuyasha futilely tried to retreat into himself.

His mind clouded with pain, an agonized groan caught in his chest. Inuyasha could feel blood ooze out of his wounds, and tried to yell when he felt tiny spikes all over, pulling on the gash. 'Stop! Agh!' He wanted to cry out and rip those hands away, but his whole body was paralyzed.

"_Inuyasha."_ A voice – his own voice, but darker and coarser – whispered alluringly to him. _"Let me out, Inuyasha, and it will all go away."_ He could feel the promise in the voice, relief from the pain. But something dangerous lingered in the shadows of his mind.

Should he do it, he wondered, just let go?

The beating stings of his lacerations screamed at him, and Inuyasha tried to force the agony out with a yell, but again, nothing escaped his mouth but a wispy breath.

"_Inuyasha, I can end this."_ The voice soothed him, cooing in his mind, and as pain lanced through his core violently, the exhausted hanyou finally relented and succumbed to the familiar voice.

Jinenji worked on Inuyasha's wounds with the skill and familiarity that came with years of experience. Gone was the frightened, timid giant; even with the gushing, terrible hole under his hands, his hands moved dexterously.

Knowing this was the most painful part, Jinenji watched carefully for Inuyasha's reaction as he rubbed a healing salve into the open wound. Inuyasha's mouth opened, and Jinenji feared that he would scream, but only a near-silent breath left his lips.

'Come on, Jinenji! Kagome – and Inuyasha – are counting on you!' He told himself, clear blue eyes fixed on the man's chest. The hanyou's legs had begun to spasm and twitch. 'Halfway done…' Jinenji turned around to grab the bandages he'd brought, and when he turned back, he fell backward in shock.

Inuyasha's eyes had snapped open, giving a violent contrast between the blood-red pupils and haunting blue sclera. A snarl escaped him, and Jinenji desperately scrambled away in fear when the transformed demon jumped up and raised a claw to cut him down.

"I-Inuy-yasha?" He tried asking as calmly as he could.

Inuyasha took a long sniff of the giant, growling furiously as he caught his mate's scent entwined with the giant's. The beast would die for touching what was his, the demon decided.

With Inuyasha's lengthened claws glinting deadly in the spots of sunlight, Jinenji swore his life would end right then and there. However, in the millisecond before the infuriated demon struck, one of his ears twitched at some sound imperceptible to Jinenji, and Inuyasha immediately ran off into the forest without another glance at the giant.

Speeding through the forest without a care about his throbbing wounds, the bloodthirsty Inuyasha spotted a scene that had his fiery blood burning. A demon was holding his mate to the ground, a hand wrapped around her throat. Faster than anyone could respond, he cut through the trees, and in one swing of his claws, ripped in half the demon that dared harm her.

He heard two cries, one of relief from his mate and the other of pain from a small, wrinkled creature on the floor.

"Y-you…You should be dead," it rasped out, crumbling in on itself from pain. Without bothering to respond, Inuyasha leapt forward, fiercely ripping his claws through the small creature, savoring the feeling of flesh tearing in his hands.

With both of his opponents dead, the demon Inuyasha turned slowly to face the woman on the floor, her hands still tenderly cradling her bruised neck. Seeing the proof of his own failure to protect her, he snarled furiously.

"I-Inuyasha? Is t-that you?" Kagome whispered, part of her terrified by what appeared to be a crazed version of her Inuyasha.

Inuyasha eyed the woman, not showing any recognition that she had spoken at all, and slowly stalked towards her. He had the strange sensation of a string tightening inside him, something that hadn't been there before, but the demon pushed it out of mind.

Picking the girl up gently from the floor, he gave long, languid licks to her neck as an apology, his own blood thickening heatedly at her taste and a predatory growl escaping him. The string wrapped painfully around him tighter and tighter with every lick, but the demon ignored the discomfort in favor of sampling the delectable girl in his arms.

The feeling of being watched suddenly overwhelmed him, and Inuyasha immediately set the girl on the ground, sniffing for any intruders. There was no one. The half-demon from before was clearly smart enough not to follow. However, he could feel the string constricting around him, clouding his mind with the discomfort and pain.

This felt…it felt familiar…like the night of his coronation, the hanyou inside him thought, panicked and thrashing wildly within him. Forcing the weak hanyou from his mind, the demon Inuyasha picked the shivering girl up once more. He had won this battle for the hanyou, and now he would get his turn with his mate.

Light fear tinged his mate's scent, and the demon Inuyasha gently nipped her neck in warning. He didn't want the smell of fear polluting her scent while they rutted, and his mate had nothing to fear now.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing?" Kagome asked, her voice still barely above a whisper, though her fear of him quickly dissipated when it became apparent he meant her no harm.

Her voice drew his attention back to her pink lips, and Inuyasha slammed his own lips against hers, devouring her in his dominating kiss. He swallowed her gasp and parted her lips with his tongue, drawing hers out to tangle with his.

Kagome could hardly believe this was happening. She'd be lying if she said kissing Inuyasha hadn't crossed her mind, but she wouldn't have dreamed it would be like this, with the crazed demon version of Inuyasha. A voice inside her cried out in rebellion, insisting that regardless of the way he looked, this wasn't really Inuyasha, but the majority of her conscience was perfectly fine with melting against this powerful, muscled demon, letting him touch her, dominate her. Where were her morals, her mind asked frantically, but for some reason, every other part of her accepted what he was doing to her. He wouldn't hurt her, she knew. Even as a demon, his arms were the safest place she could be.

"Inuyasha…" A light moan left her throat without her permission as his clawed hand squeezed her butt, hoisting her up higher.

Inuyasha pushed her against a tree, eagerly nudging a knee between her clothed legs to feel her heat against his thigh, and growled in need as her honeyed scent wafted up to his nose.

"_Bitch."_ He growled out.

The moment the word left his lips, the two gasped, Inuyasha tearing away from her as a shock ran through his system. For Kagome, the word brought back a terrifying memory. She could see the Taisho above her again, his arms shoving her down on her bed, his violet eyes shining threateningly, and she shivered at the image.

However, Inuyasha's reaction quickly drew her out of the memory. He was panting heavily, a pained grimace on his face.

Her first thought was his wounds. 'They're still bleeding!' She thought in fear, but that idea didn't hold much water when Inuyasha grasped his head in pain.

Inuyasha could feel the string binding him tighter, strangling him from the inside. The demon roared furiously as the ache and need for air overcame him, forcing him to take gasping breaths.

Kagome ran to his side, letting her aura prod his gently to figure out what was hurting him. She could sense the demonic shift in his youki, but that wasn't all. It felt like there was something else…someone else inside him.

"Inuyasha? What's wrong?" Kagome's voice floated in his head, but the pounding wouldn't stop. Ripping himself from her grasp, he tried to force out whatever was constricting him.

"_Kill her, Inuyasha._" A sinister voice rang through his body. "_**Kill her.**_" It demanded again and again.

Inuyasha saw Kagome in his blurred gaze and tried to warn her as he felt the voice pervade his mind, controlling his arm and positioning them above her with the intent to kill. "K-Kag..ome, g-get… aw…" His words came out strained and nearly impossible to decipher, but understanding registered in her eyes just as his claws fell.

* * *

Author's Note:

Apologies for the slightly longer wait. I hope this longer chapter makes up for it! Honestly, I dreaded writing this chapter because there are two fight scenes and I absolutely HATE writing fight scenes. Ugh. They are terribly boring to write and, as a result, I always think they come across as boring to readers. Hopefully they weren't too boring/hard for you to read.

As always, thank you to those who reviewed (and thanks for the favs/story alerts as well). The next update will probably be a bit longer from now, because I've got a busy few weeks coming up.

Note: I did change the summary of the story to be a bit more descriptive, and the full summary is at the start of each chapter.

Also, special thanks to Ceres-chan07 for the awesome review and for the messages! I probably would have taken…like two more weeks on this, but writing to you was hugely motivating.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review if you feel so inclined! =)


	5. Protector

**Risen in Patria**

Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred with demons and humans hateful of each other. Now the fallen Taisho Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi. Together, the two must decipher the kingdom's history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.

Warnings: Mild gore, language, OOC, explicit sexual content, implied sexual relationships

_Protector_

_A sea of pink petals twirled and swam through the air, perfuming his mind with its sweet, floral scent. A curved stonewall encased him, hugging the world around him. Two enormous hedges, unkempt from years of neglect, lined the stone, forever a struggle between man and nature. Inuyasha looked around in wonder at the vivid green surrounding him and the sparkling blue waters of the pond before him._

"…_My lord?" A soft voice gently sounded to his side, alerting him to the fact that someone had been talking to him, and he swung his gaze down to the woman beside him…his mother! She looked just as he remembered her, but once again, younger than in his memories. His eyes quickly noticed her dress, wealthy robes that were once in good shape now lay loosely on her haggard frame._

_Before he could even think about his response, a calm and determined voice, one that he recognized some place deep in his bones, filled Inuyasha's mind. "Izayoi, I _will_ protect you. I swear it."_

"_I…thank you. But," he could see her eyes shut in pain, "What can we do?" She looked up at him imploringly, her eyes swollen from her tears. "He has taken from me everyone I love, my mother, my father, my friends!" She looked down, unable to meet his eyes, and he felt a sudden, strange urge to shake her in frustration. Why couldn't she understand, his mind asked._

"_Do you not love me, Izayoi?" The same, vaguely familiar voice rumbled out of him. Inuyasha watched in fascination as a clawed hand – __**his**__ clawed hand, though larger than he remembered – reached down to lift her chin. It was like watching through another's eyes._

"_I-I…" She sighed tiredly, "Inu no Taisho…" She closed her eyes, looking for the words to say, to fix this whole thing, but couldn't find them. Finally, she conceded, "You know I do…"_

"_I've told you before to call me Touga.*" Inuyasha said, though again, the voice coming out of his mouth wasn't his own. A light pink dusted her cheeks._

"_M-my lord, it's not proper."_

"_Doing things the 'proper' way has gotten us into this mess!" A frustrated growl shook his form. "Why can you not understand? I just want to protect you…us…I want to save you, take you far, far away from here. I want us to be together, gods damn the King!...and the laws! I don't care that you are a human…" Suddenly her soft form was pressed against his, and the youkai in him could only purr in content as it could finally hold his mate. "You are _my_ human…my princess."_

"_Touga…" Her eyes were shining and dewy with suppressed tears. "I'm just…I am frightened, Touga. For us, for you! You cannot think to take him on alone. He is too powerful as he is, and I cannot bear to lose you," she cried out, finally allowing herself to collapse against him._

"_His power is not a natural one, and many grow malcontent with his rule. Rebellion brews in the cities, in the palace, under his nose. _That_is our chance, Izayoi." Her long black hair shone beneath him, and those claws, similar to his own but so much larger, reached down to free them it from the pins and ties binding it. He stepped back to look into her eyes once more. "Let all of this go, Izayoi."_

"_I can't...Not when I can save so many by giving him what he wants. Rebellion…how many would die?"_

"_Rebellion is coming," he spoke fiercely, grabbing hold of her shoulders. " _War_ is coming whether you give that wretched youkai your hand or not, and I will _not_ allow him to have you."_

_She drew deep, pained breaths at his words. "I don't want to marry him," she finally admitted. "He…he killed my father, f-forced m-my mother…" Her words succumbed to a choked sob. "You're all I have left."_

"_Then marry me, Izayoi. Be my mate, as you are meant to be," his voice softened, gently imploring her. He wanted her to stop crying, both Inuyasha himself and this man that was speaking through him._

"_Touga," she sighed, leaning against his chest in a mix of exhaustion and relief._

"_Just say yes, Izayoi. Let me protect you…please, don't refuse me this time," he allowed himself to beg, lightly stroking her hair._

_Her eyes closed in thought for what felt like forever. Finally, she looked up at him, still leaning against him as if unwilling to let go, and gave him a genuine smile. "Yes." And that was all she needed to say before Inuyasha suddenly felt his head fall forward._

With a sudden intake of air, Inuyasha was brought back to the living, lurching forward. He shook his head and closed his eyes to clear his dream-clouded thoughts. But even as he tried to will away the foreign feelings and images, the scenes continued to flash before his eyes. The scenery, foliage, and scents of his dream seemed so _real _that he could still sense them now as he sat awake. He recognized the setting, a small garden at the edges of the town surrounding the palace. His mother had taken him there when he was but a young child, and he visited it occasionally when he missed her. For many years during his childhood, he had sought comfort from the warmth of its grounds, safety in the high branches of the Goshinboku, the garden's largest tree.

But what did any of this mean? Was the dream hinting that his mother had an affair with a youkai? Inuyasha profusely shook his head, refusing to believe even the idea.

Remembering the way he had hugged her in the dream, he shuddered at the thought of being with his mother…that way. 'Blechh!' He had not known her long, but everything he felt toward her had been strictly…well, motherly. Yet, in his dream, holding her had felt like the most natural thing in the world to the youkai in him – the _foreign_ youkai, he reminded himself. This had been the second time he dreamt of his mother, and both times it had almost felt like he was living a memory. 'And who the hell Touga?' He thought in frustration.

Pushing the confusing dream and questions out of his mind, he finally opened his lids and looked upward.

"What the fuck?" He shot upward again, but a sharp pain ran through his system. He ignored it, looking suspiciously around at the unfamiliar walls. There was a set of stairs off to the side, but a large plank covered its entrance. He realized that he was in some kind of cellar, but he couldn't remember how in the seven hells he had gotten here.

Frantically searching his memory for some clue, he finally remembered, 'The demons!' He and Kagome had been fighting those two demons and he'd been hurt, badly. There'd been the demon, the one with the lavender hair, and then that second demon…the one that had injured him so badly. That was as much as he could recall clearly. 'Have we been captured?' He looked in panic at the floors around him, but Kagome was nowhere to be seen. Her scent lingered in his clothes, but just barely, and certainly not enough to indicate that she had ever been in this room at all. And as he took a deep whiff, he caught the unsettling and ominous scent of blood – Kagome's blood.

Ignoring the pain that lanced through him, Inuyasha cautiously pushed himself up and surveyed the room again to ensure he was alone. Had they gotten a hold of Kagome? Panic flooded him at the thought, and that was enough motivation for him to push himself to his feet.

His ears began to pick up sounds of movement from above. They were minimal, but enough to indicate life beyond this cellar. Crouching quietly and steadily up the stairs, he listened for anything that could clue him in on what he was up against. There was some light shuffling around, and he thought he could hear a fire crackling, but he didn't hear anything too alarming.

Tensing his arms and poising the weapons at the tips of his fingers, Inuyasha counted to three and thrust his arm into the locked cellar door, cracking it in half and ripping it off its hinges. He heard a frightened gasp just as he launched himself through the opening, and immediately spun around to face his foe –

…who was crouched low against a wall, clearly trying not to cower.

"Jinenji?" What was he doing here? Inuyasha lowered his arms slowly, darting his eyes around to take in his surroundings. "What am I doing in your house?" He asked in what he hoped was a calming voice.

Jinenji lowered his arms in response, and carefully stood up, though his enormous form was still stunted by the hut's ceiling. "You were…" He paused hesitantly. "I had to take you back here after what happened," Jinenji whispered, his voice so soft Inuyasha would have missed it had it not been for the fur-tipped ears on his head.

Inuyasha furrowed his brows in confusion. After _what_ happened? "What are you talking about?"

The blue-eyed giant twisted uncomfortably, clearly still nervous in his presence. "You don't remember?"

"Well _obviously_ not," he snorted in reply. Yeah, it was rude, but at the moment he didn't care. What he wanted to know was why the hell he felt like he had a hole in his body and what had happened to Kagome. He could smell her scent, but the heavy, dizzying odor of herbs and medicine overwhelmed it. "Where's Kagome?"

Jinenji's heart beat picked up in what he recognized as nervousness, and Inuyasha suddenly found himself suppressing a growl. If the giant had so much as harmed a hair on her head…

Inuyasha watched carefully as Jinenji moved one of his hulking arms, and behind it, he saw a familiar head of black hair. Though he couldn't see much more beyond the small window of space between Jinenji's arm and his enormous torso, he could see the sickly pale skin of Kagome's face and the lackluster hair spilled over the padded floor. Repressing his initial anger, he somehow kept himself from losing control and attacking the giant blocking her from his view.

"_What did you do to her?"_ Nearly scaring himself at the deadly threat in his voice, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and crouched in preparation to attack.

Seeing Inuyasha's intent, Jinenji quickly tried to appease the provoked half-demon. "No-nothing!" He waved his huge hands defensively. "Ka-Kagome…" Pausing hesitantly, Jinenji picked his next words carefully. "Kagome g-got hurt. I had to bring her back"

"_Yes_, I know that!" He growled partly in anger and partly in frustration. He'd always hated when people would talk in circles around him, avoiding the actual question. A fair share of people in court had the habit of keeping him ignorant of anything they felt he shouldn't hear or anything they thought would displease him, and Inuyasha certainly didn't want to deal with that from the demon in front of him.

Rather than attempt an explanation, Jinenji decided that perhaps then would be a good time to show, rather than tell, what had happened. As he stepped to the side, his form began to crowd Inuyasha's side of the hut, and so a suspicious Inuyasha moved closer to the area that the demon had left, his amber eyes never leaving Jinenji's huddled body.

Jinenji slowly and cautiously, as if afraid he would startle Inuyasha into fight mode, gestured to Kagome's prone form and bent down to lift the threadbare blanket from her.

When bloodied bandages came into view, Inuyasha's stomach churned painfully. The half-dried splotches looked like crimson flowers blooming across her torso, and he turned to Jinenji in anger. What the hell had happened that kept both of them from protecting her? The demons he'd been fighting had obviously been taken care of, or they wouldn't be here, bandaged and talking right now, so how could she have been hurt?

Kneeling at her side, he reached a hand forward to touch the reddened bandages as if entranced by the sight. The smell of bloody, metallic and tangy, suddenly pervaded the air around them, and he suppressed the instinctive disgust and – more disturbingly – the sickening sweetness the odor seemed to possess. What was wrong with him? Before he could reach the bloodied rags, he finally caught sight of his hands.

They were covered in dry blood.

He took a shaky breath.

Kagome's blood.

A million thoughts drove themselves into his mind, each more dreadful that the last. What the hell happened? Had…he done this? That was impossible, Inuyasha thought with a shake of his head. 'I protected her,' he assured himself.

The crimson blossoms became too much to bear. He turned away, eyes shut, and paused before looking upwards at Jinenji. The giant was staring at him with some unidentifiable look, and Inuyasha resisted the impulsive desire to cut that haunting face out of his sight. It looked too much like pity. He told himself that he felt such an urge because monsters didn't pity kings – a Taisho like him.

Whether by some cruelty or kindness of the gods, Jinenji finally spoke up, "Y-yo-u were h-hurt, and I-I tried to help-p you." Clearing his throat to put together the first completely coherent sentence Inuyasha had heard from him, he continued in a whisper that rang in Inuyasha's ears, "You transformed into…this demon and you killed the other two – those demons, but you hurt her…Kagome. You don't remember at all?"

"No…" He couldn't tell if his reply was meant to answer Jinenji's question or to deny – to himself, to Jinenji – that what Jinenji could be true. But again, the rusty, metallic scent of blood wafted upwards from his hands, and his eyes helplessly latched onto the burgundy tint on his claws. The claws that he'd meant to protect her with. The claws his dream had promised to protect his mother. "How…how did that happen?"

If not for the absolute silence in the cramped hut, Jinenji doubted he would have even heard the whispered question. "I…I'm not sure. One moment, you were hurt…then…You transformed into this…I don't know what it was, but you looked different," he explained in a harrowed voice. "You killed those two demons – the ones you and Kagome were fighting – and I didn't think you were going to hurt Kagome, but then you said something..."

Inuyasha's eyes remained locked on the deep red bandages, as if still trying to make sense that this was all real, and Jinenji thought for a moment to stop – to allow the hanyou who clearly couldn't take this sudden change of events a rest – but Inuyasha swung his gaze back to Jinenji's blue eyes.

"What did I say?"

"I-I didn't hear. I d-don't really have good hearing."

"You _have_ to have heard something," Inuyasha furiously insisted. None of this made any sense. He'd been dead set on keeping Kagome safe – if not for the fact that he liked her than for the life debt he owed her – so why in the nine hells would he have tried to hurt her?! "You're a goddamned demon! How could you not have heard?" He demanded.

Startled by his anger, Jinenji stumbled backwards in mild fear. "I-…well, n-not full. And m-my da-dad…he didn't have good hearing neither. I'm sorry…"

When he realized how easily he'd frightened the demon – no, half-demon – Inuyasha took a deep breath, trying to ignore the scent of blood around him. He had a feeling that Jinenji wouldn't be so willing to give him answer if he was scared out of his mind, so he had to go about this carefully.

"Fine. What happened after that? How…did I stop?" His contemplative eyes fell on her again. 'None of this makes any fucking sense! I know I was injured, but I wouldn't have attacked Kagome,' he thought in frustration. Despite all that had happened in the past few weeks, he liked her. _Genuinely_ liked her…and he wanted her, perhaps even more than he had before the curse because he'd actually gotten the chance to know the woman behind the beautiful face. There's was nothing that he could possibly imagine that would make him want to hurt her.

Jinenji blushed at Inuyasha's question and stammered in nervousness. Realizing that Inuyasha probably wasn't in the most patient of moods, he finally got out, "I got there in time." Inuyasha watched him look down at the immobile body on the floor. "I-I, uh-m…I saw that y-you were going to h-hurt Kagome so I st-stopped you," he stammered out. "Y-You were going to h-hit her – I could tell! – so I-I just knocked you out," Jinenji explained, adding the last part with his hands raised defensively as if expecting a violent response. "You were down in the lower room for all of yesterday and most of today."

Each word that came out of Jinenji's mouth only seemed to make the world spin faster. Inuyasha braced his hands against the wall, feeling the crusted blood under his nails crack and flake. He ignored the pain that shot through him at his jostled wound – somehow everything that he had found out in the past few minutes dulled the sharp throbbing. Someone else – perhaps one of those demons he'd been keen on killing – must have gained control of his body somehow. Maybe it was a poison in the demon's claws that infected him or maybe it was an enchantment. He didn't know, but he _did_ know that it had to have been something else acting through him. That was the only logical explanation. He turned his eyes downward to the woman lying unconscious on the floor once more, feeling little alleviation from the guilt. Bewitched or poisoned or not, it was through his weakness, his _fault_, that she was hurt.

Jinenji carefully took a step forward, drawing Inuyasha's darkened amber eyes toward him. "I…I need to change her bandages," he explained softly, realizing that Inuyasha was calming down. Without a word, Inuyasha stepped to the side to allow Jinenji to pass, and for the first time, the fragrance of herbs and foliage that accompanied the giant demon soothed his nose, blocking out the metallic tang in the air. He watched as the half-demon slowly unwrapped the sticky white cloth from Kagome's pale form, three long claw marks and the dark threads that sewed them shut emerging behind the gauze and green paste. However, what captured his attention were the fiery red blotching and the sickly smell that suddenly erupted into the air.

Refraining from the urge to cough up whatever was left in his system, he managed to get his question out, "What is that?"

"That smell…" Jinenji paused. "It must be infected," he explained worriedly. "I tried to clean the wound, but it could have gotten infected anyway." Suddenly, Jinenji transitioned into work mode, snipping the threads that he needed to open, and applying an infection-curbing salve. Inuyasha watched with an almost morbid fascination as if unable to look away from the sight of those claw marks. They had been sewn shut, but he could still see the deep red lines, thankfully not as serious as they appeared from the bandages.

When Jinenji was finished, he turned to Inuyasha again. "If the infection gets worse, she could…be in trouble," Jinenji explained seriously. "She needs human medicine and I don't have any here. You can probably bring her home tomorrow morning, but just be careful not to jostle anything. She'll be more comfortable healing there, and if the infection dies down, she will be okay," he explained.

It didn't sound like the brightest of ideas to be moving her back while they were both still injured, but Jinenji knew more about medicines and healing so Inuyasha nodded his consent nonetheless.

He watched as Jinenji moved out of the cramped hut, and debated finding a river nearby to wash his hands. The smell and mere sight of blood coating his claws was nauseating. In fact, all he wanted to do was wash himself from the inside out. Somehow, he felt dirtied, tainted in a way that he had never felt before, even more than he'd felt at his transformation.

A quiet mumbling from below broke his train of thought.

'…n…mmm…' He heard Kagome's soft moans and knelt her side. He noticed that she had feverish red with beads of sweat falling from her temples. Inuyasha hesitantly moved his clean hand to wipe her brow, absently brushing away a few stray hairs. As if she could sense his presence, Kagome turned towards his hand. "…hn…mm…"

Inuyasha had no idea what she could possibly be trying to say, but just hearing her mumbles comforted him. If nothing else, it seemed like a sign that she was alive and healing. He spared a look outside to gauge the hour. The light pinks and oranges that dusted the sky meant that it was early evening. He still had the whole night ahead of him. A whole night of figuring out how this had happened. And he _was_ going to figure it out, he promised himself. He owed Kagome that much.

* * *

Two sweaty figures, bare bodies on a warm futon, lay in the dark with only the flickering sparks of the fireplace to fill the silence. The sheets fell to the side in a crumpled heap as the man kicked apart his partner's legs and flipped her onto her back.

In a swift move, he was in her once more, eliciting a surprised yelp from the girl beneath him. He smirked arrogantly. "I don't tire as easily as the bandit."

She lost any retort she could have wanted to say as he hit something deep within her that had her crying out to the paper-thin walls. The part of her that was mortified by her lack of shame disappeared in those moments. She should have been beating herself up for enjoying the way he moved against her – what kind of whore actually _liked_ being taken against her will, even if she had no choice but to allow him what he wanted. But as her body succumbed to the physical pleasures he wrought on it, Koharu couldn't care less who could hear.

The muscled man above her rocked against her almost angrily, bringing them both to the end the needed when the abrupt opening of one of the doors startled them.

When she realized who was standing at the door, Koharu shot up, yanking the sheets to herself.

"Don't bother. You were _my_ whore first, princess," the man at the door taunted.

"O-of course, Nara – " She began stuttering when the man above her interrupted.

"What do you need, Naraku?" He pulled himself off her and began dressing without another glance at her.

"I need to speak with you. Get dressed." Naraku turned to leave, before an idea crossed his mind and he shifted his ruby gaze to Koharu. "I have a few guests that could use some entertaining. Why don't you go keep them busy, princess?"

Feeling the dread curl and twist her stomach into knots, Koharu began to pull on her flimsy yukata, refraining from the urge to shiver as the cool air brushed across the room. She started rising when a voice interrupted.

"Just leave her be for now. I'll probably fuck her again after we're done anyway," he said, waving a hand nonchalantly.

Naraku leveled a calculating stare at him, his gaze sending shivers down her spine even though it wasn't directed at her, and conceded. "Fine. I wouldn't get too attached, though."

The man snorted indignantly. "Won't be a problem."

"Good. Get dressed." Naraku spun on his heels and abruptly slid the sliding door shut, signaling the end of their conversation and allowing the two in the room to get dressed.

Koharu knelt, quietly pulling on her yukata when a large hand reached down and drew it back down, lingering on the naked skin at the curve of her neck.

"There's no point in that. Did you think I told Naraku to leave you here for nothing?" He asked with his usual smirk.

"Oh…of course, Bankotsu-sama."

As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of anger every time he put it so bluntly. It tore at her – the fact that she had come to rely on a man that saw her as little more than "someone to keep the bed warm," as Bankotsu had so kindly put it. Nonetheless, she would take him over Naraku or any of Naraku's other men any day and the fact was that he had protected her from the numerous times Naraku meant to "share" her with them. As it stood, he was the best of her choices, and Koharu wasn't foolish enough to fail to recognize that.

After a few moments of silence as he dressed, he left without another word, leaving the "princess" alone to her thoughts. Bankotsu made his way down to Naraku's room with the practiced stealth of a mercenary. The hand on his halberd always tightened subconsciously when he walked the hallways. This might have been his temporary "home," while Naraku had him doing the dirty work, but Bankotsu wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down. Naraku was the type of man who might have slit his throat just to see if the blade was sharp, and he wasn't about to let himself become the test subject. Perhaps the only time he even relaxed a bit was with the whore – after all, he reasoned, every man needed some time to enjoy a treat or two.

"Come in." Naraku's voice reached him from behind the closed door. The door slid open with a slight creak, and Bankotsu held back the shivers that always ran down his back when he stepped into this room. The two corpses, one belonging to the previous lord and the other belonging to the idiot that had entrusted his daughter to the wolves, still lay to the side, their decaying stench clouding the air. Even with his own familiarity with dead bodies, he still couldn't stand the way they smelled. Naraku offered him a grin, as if pleased with Bankotsu's discomfort. "How is the recruiting?"

"As planned. We have twelve thousand in Ha Kian, twenty miles north of here, and another two thousand stationed around various towns. Fifteen hundred more on their way to the castle now. They'll be ready to march in three weeks." Bankotsu reported. The scattered northern lands were wrought with anger and thirst for blood. It hadn't been all that difficult to convince them to march against the kingdom that was largely responsible. They might not be the most organized or trained men, but they were the most angry, and he knew never to underestimate anger as motivation.

"Hmm…" Naraku hummed aloud in thought. "Good." He poked aimlessly at the dying embers of the fireplace, drawing out the uncomfortable silence in the room. A large pot hung over the charred wood, clearly still hot from the fire. "I have another task for you in the meanwhile. The slayer girl. She's of no more use to me."

Bankotsu watched as Naraku stood and walked to the clay pot and removed the lid with his back to the mercenary. "She disappeared in the forests south of here. You'll see it marked on the map. I want her gone." He instructed. As Naraku reached into the pot to pull something out, Bankotsu suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen ominously.

A pulsing quiet stretched between the two men. Naraku finally turned around, allowing him to see the burning red heart he tenderly cradled in his arms. "This time, I'll make sure no one gets in the way."

* * *

Sango was not the type of person who easily admitted defeat. But as she looked at Miroku's wound – the bite marks on his arm and the darkened flesh around it – she was starting to realize it was time for her to wave the white flag. It was unlike any other injury she had ever seen, and every passing second only made it worse.

Miroku himself had passed out from the fever, and for that at least, she was grateful. She watched in morbid fascination and horror as a blackish purple liquid seemed to spread through his whole forearms from the bite wound, spidering up his arm in the infected veins. And despite her fear that the strange infection would be infectious, she had dared to touch the bite marks, but there was a dangerous air around them, pulsating and keeping her from pressing her fingers down.

"Fuck…Come on Miroku," She groaned out, yanking off a piece of cloth from her silk dress, a pretty gift from the man himself, and tying it tightly around his arm in the hopes that it would stop the spread of whatever it was inside him.

His breathing was labored, and no matter how she wiped, his brow was covered in sweat. She had to get him to civilization, and _soon_, because she knew he wouldn't make it otherwise. There was no food, no water, and she didn't dare leave to find them any because she was honestly afraid that he might die in her absence, as if her presence somehow kept his life tethered.

She'd managed to get the both of them to safety and shelter, and there hadn't been a sign of their attackers after they'd been saved by the witch. Speaking of which, she still had no idea what happened. The demon and rogues that had attacked the royal carriages…and those silent men…their leader had implied that the "spider" sent his deepest regrets.

'That would mean Naraku sent them to kill Miroku…and me,' Sango concluded. But did he mean to kill her? From what she knew, Naraku wouldn't have any idea that she was even traveling with Miroku. After all, she hadn't heard from him, which was quite the blessing she might add, since the days leading up until the coronation. 'But it sounded like that demon knew I was there…' Sango couldn't help the paranoia and suspicion. She'd gotten in bed with the devil, and it would come back to bite her in the ass one day. Of course, it was all worth it, she reminded herself. Kohaku…he would be back safe, and that was worth selling her soul.

Her greatest fear was that after all this Naraku would betray her still, and so she knew she needed to devise some plan that would ensure that Kohaku would be returned safely. Naraku wanted something…something that was supposedly in the capital, somewhere in the main castle. Unfortunately, he'd been entirely withholding about what exactly that was.

As she tried to figure out what the man who held her baby brother's life in his hands wanted, a suddenly whistling sound began to register in her ears. It was soft, barely audible, and Sango looked around cautiously to figure out where it could be coming from, praying to the gods that it wasn't some demon trying to sneak up and attack them. With Miroku in such bad shape, she didn't know if she'd be able to protect them both. Unable to locate the source of the sound, Sango took another glance at Miroku when the rustling in his robes caught her eye.

'What is that?' She moved her hand to the one odd region, carefully feeling his now-dirty and raggedy robes. By some chance, his injured arm fell to the side and she finally caught sight of his right palm, swollen, purple, and grotesque. And as much as she wanted to look away, she could not help but notice that his _hand_ was creating the breeze. At the center of his palm was a blackened and leathery circle, swirling in on itself. She moved her hand over his, eyes stuck as if in a trance, and felt the effects of it for herself.

'Kami…what the hell is that?'

She had never encountered anything like this before, but now she knew it wasn't just some regular infection. This looked like some dark witchcraft or youkai magic – something that a healer at your average healer wouldn't know how to deal with. That meant she needed to find someone specialized, someone with knowledge of the dark arts and the ability to heal them, and she knew just the family to look for.

Sango took a look outside and realized that nightfall would be upon them soon. There was no way she could drag Miroku out into the cold with her in such bad shape and with Miroku trailing the smell of blood and infection everywhere, so that left tomorrow morning. If the gods were on her side, she'd be able to get him to safety and treatment in three days time, and she could only hope he would make it through the journey.

After all, she had a favor to collect from one Higurashi priestess, and lecherous monk that had found a small place in her heart was well worth the price.

* * *

Come dawn, and Inuyasha had barely slept a wink of sleep. As he had promised himself, he'd kept intense vigil through the night. These woods weren't safe. The demons here weren't safe. Jinenji wasn't safe. '_I'm_ not safe,' he thought as a reminder.

She hadn't woken up at all last night, and he wasn't sure whether he should be grateful for that. Part of him was grateful; he couldn't imagine facing her after what he'd done. First, at the capital…and now this? Why was it the one time he truly wanted someone, he did everything he could to make sure she would hate him – and she _would _hate him. 'I can't keep this up,' he knew. If he didn't confess soon out of guilt, his many years of living at court had taught him that all secrets came out eventually, and when this one did, it would be the worst one yet. He had killed, he had conquered, and he had done what needed to be done to keep the kingdom safe from the dangerous, wretched creatures that were demons, but he had never – nor would he ever willingly – rape anyone. If it weren't for the fact that he could still _feel_ her, remember the way she had looked and smelled that night, Inuyasha wouldn't have believed it at all. Worst of all, he _still_ desired her.

Refraining from the urge to chuck something at the walls – other than the fact that their half-demon host wouldn't have appreciated it, and he feared the slightest disturbance would collapse the tiny home – he brooded over what the events of the past few weeks. He had tried to make the best of the situation, tried to turn this curse into a blessing of some sort, but nothing was going his way.

"I changed her bandages," Jinenji's soft declaration broke the silence.

Grunting his acknowledgement, Inuyasha rose from his perch at the threshold of the hut and made his way to Kagome's side.

"Kagome has a salve made from Omeji herbs at her house. You'll need to change her bandages and apply that to her wounds."

He nodded automatically, taking in what Jinenji said but still lost in thought. Kagome had said that the path to and from Jinenji's gardens was largely safe, but he wanted to be mentally and physically prepared – or as physically prepared as someone could get with a hole in his chest – for the trip back. It wasn't long – less than an hour at the leisurely pace he and Kagome had taken yesterday – which meant that he could have her safely back at home in ten minutes max, Inuyasha estimated. However, as he now knew after yesterday's attack, the area wasn't very safe at all.

"Twice a day, preferably, until you start to see scarring," Jinenji continued. "She'll be awake and can tell you what she wants by then."

"Are you sure it's the best thing to do, taking her home right now?" If they were attacked on the road back, then Inuyasha would be risking further injury to her.

Nodding, Jinenji explained seriously. "These herbs really only effectively treat demons. Her infection will only get worse without her own medicine."

"Okay," he consented, pushing himself to his feet. His own wound still shot sharp pains through his system if he moved too quickly, but he could deal with it until he and Kagome were safe at the Higurashi estate.

"Do you need h-help?" Jinenji asked reluctantly when he noticed the wince on Inuyasha's face. "I can c-carry Kagome back w-with you," he suggested, hoping Inuyasha wouldn't take the offer as an insult.

…which, naturally, is exactly how the prideful hanyou took it.

"No," he grunted out. "We'll be fine."

Nodding reluctantly, Jinenji began to pack the various medicines he had originally intended for Kagome. With Jinenji's attention elsewhere, Inuyasha made his way to Kagome's prone figure and gently lifted the threadbare blanket from her body. He could see the red seeping through the bandages again and clenched his fist guiltily. It didn't take a genius to realize that those wounds would scar Kagome for the rest of her life.

Putting the guilt aside for the moment, he gently lifted Kagome up, making sure not to jostle her wounds and waited for Jinenji to strap the bag of herbs and medicines to his back. Even with his injury, the extra weight was almost no burden on him and if the need arose, he knew he would have the strength to run Kagome to safety.

'I guess being a demon has its benefits in this case,' he mused as Jinenji finished preparing them for the short trip.

With a curt nod, Inuyasha took off in the direction of Kagome's home. Luckily, he made it back with no incidence minus the slight tearing and sting Inuyasha could feel in his midsection.

Ignoring the discomfort, Inuyasha quickly made his way into the house, throwing down the bag of Jinenji's medicine and gingerly setting Kagome down on her bed.

He began his search for the Omeji stuff that Jinenji had mentioned, thanking the kami that Kagome had meticulous labels for each and every plant, paste and herb in the cabinets. Frankly, if it weren't for the old cook Kaede forcing him to eat his greens every now and then, he probably wouldn't have ever known the difference between peas and broccoli.

'A-ha.' He pulled a jar of half-goopy, half-leafiness labeled "Omeji" out of one of the cabinets.

He carried the jar over to Kagome's futon, kneeling by her side. With a deep breath, he began to unwrap her bloodied bandages, taking great care not to tear anything or hurt her in the process. Inch by inch, three red streaks appeared before him. The sickening smell of infection still overwhelmed her natural scent, and Inuyasha blinked away the reactionary tears he had to the stinging odor.

As if on autopilot, his hands began to take small globs of the paste and smooth it over her wounds.

It smelled so wrong. Since his unfortunate transformation, he'd loved the way she smelled to the point of addiction. His sense of smell was the one thing he wished he could keep after removing the curse, if only so he could continue to take in that entrancing scent. And now, the smell of infection and the bitter paste had taken its place.

He didn't know much about treating wounds, and he could only hope that what he was doing wasn't causing Kagome any additional pain. Through it all, she lay motionless, and if it weren't for the slow rise and fall of her chest, he would have feared the worst.

'It could have been,' he reminded himself. That the same claws that had done this to her were the ones now trying to rectify their mistake was not lost on him. By some miracle, he saved Kagome from the demons that attacked them, but by that same miracle he had nearly killed her. He may have thought Jinenji weak and useless, but that didn't change the fact that the it was the giant who had kept Kagome safe in the end. 'If Jinenji doesn't deserve to be around her, then I sure as hell don't either.' They were both beasts in the end, and after this, he knew he couldn't stay with her. While Jinenji had said she would be okay this time, it was a fluke, and one that was unlikely to be repeated.

As he finished wrapping fresh bandages around her, Inuyasha made the decision that he knew he had to make. He would leave Kagome. She wasn't safe around him. 'At least until I have this curse removed,' he thought. There was no reason that she would accept him even after he transformed back – hell, after what he had done to her the night of the coronation he didn't think he deserved her forgiveness – but he could still try. He was still Taisho. That had to count for something, he thought, as a brushed a damp strand of hair from her face.

With a sigh, he pulled his hand away. The exhaustion of the day starting to kick in and the pain from his own wounds that he had managed to ignore returning, Inuyasha lay down on the woven flooring beneath him, figuring that he might as well try to get some sleep now that they were safe. Sending a final glance at Kagome, he shut his eyes and let the peace and quiet take him.

He woke the next morning to the sound of moaning and a light creaking. He blinked sleepily, his eyes slowly focusing on the raised bed in front of them.

"Inuyasha?" Her voice sounded frail and soft. She was lying on the futon, one leg falling off the edge as if she had tried to get up, with both hands over her wounds and eyes shut in pain.

Shooting up to set her back on the bed, Inuyasha whispered his response as though a loud voice might kill her. "Hey Kagome, I'm right here."

She blinked away the sticky crust in her eyes and smiled weakly up at him. "What…happened?" She managed out, taking deep breaths as a painful throbbing shot up her spine.

Inuyasha paused. Was now the time to tell her that _he_ had been the one to injure her? Though she might not have had the energy to fight with him, that didn't mean she wouldn't try to kick him out if she learned the truth, and in her condition, she wouldn't be able to take care of herself. Making the split second decision, Inuyasha explained, "We were attacked by those demons, remember? You were hurt so Jinenji told me what you needed to heal the wounds and I brought you back home." Of course, it didn't slip his mind that this would be another thing to add to the list of reasons why Kagome would eventually hate him.

Her brows furrowed, and she looked like she wanted to ask something else, but couldn't focus from the pain.

"Look, just stay in bed and I'll explain it all when you're feeling up for it, okay?" Kagome looked up at him, as if surprised by the amount of gentleness in his voice, but nodded and let Inuyasha set her comfortably on the mattress again.

She watched, her eyes half-opened, as Inuyasha scurried around the room doing...something. Truthfully, she was so tired she didn't care. She brought her eyes back to the ceiling and welcomed the haze of sleep.

For the next hour or two – or it could have been twenty for all she knew – she drifted in and out of sleep, catching but the shortest glimpses of the world. Each time her eyes would blink open just the slightest, she saw her hanyou moving around busily, occasionally checking her wounds and attending to her. As a deeper sleep claimed her, she let a distant thought drift through her with a small smile. 'My little nurse.'

After a night of restless dreams, Kagome woke to the world once again. She tilted her head to the side, brow furrowing in confusion at her missing companion.

"Inuyasha?" She called out weakly, her mouth suddenly feeling dry as a bone.

Nothing.

Perhaps he was simply in some other part of the estate taking care of his own wounds, she thought. Resigning herself to more rest, as she certainly didn't feel well enough to go moving about, Kagome sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. While she might have felt physically drained – that was likely due to her using purification powers as well – her brain was running a thousand leagues a minute.

What exactly had happened...? The two demons attacked them and lured her and Inuyasha out into the forest, and she remembered the terror that had run through her at seeing Inuyasha's wound.

'How could he have survived that?' She had seen even full demons succumb to much less fatal of wounds.

But then, she suddenly recalled, when it had seemed like the demons would take her life, Inuyasha had saved her...only...

Something had gone horribly wrong. That much she could feel in her gut.

He might have tried to hide it from her earlier, but she knew. He had come back and killed off the demons with impossible ease, but then, he had turned to her.

Of course, she learned in mere seconds that he wasn't coming after her in _that_ way, she thought with a blush. Even in that moment, she knew exactly what he wanted, and she had to admit that some part of her wanted it too.

'Ah, not the time to be thinking about that!' She berated herself.

Focusing on what happened after their...minor tryst, Kagome shut her eyes and tried to remember exactly what it was that had felt so different. His youki had surged, but while she was surprised by how much, that in itself wasn't entirely uncommon. After all, she had heard of half-demons relying on their youkai instincts to save them in life-threatening situations.

'Still...'

It almost felt like something...or _someone_ else had interfered. With the little power she had left, she had tried to draw out the intrusive presence, but somehow, from that point on she remembered nothing.

A slight throbbing at her side brought her thoughts back to the present. She had still yet to see her own wound, Kagome realized. With slight trepidation, she carefully pulled Inuyasha's somewhat less tidy bandages away and cringed at the sight. It certainly looked worse than it felt. The cuts were thin, three of them that ran vibrant red down her ribs and to her waist.

'I have no idea how I got these,' she realized, her mind drawing a blank as to when the demons had been able to cut her so. That fight she remembered clearly.

Before she could think on it much longer, she heard footsteps coming down the raised platform outside her door.

"...Inuyasha?"

* * *

Even before his transformation, Inuyasha had never enjoyed the sight of blood. It was messy, unpleasant and somehow never made him failed to make him feel a tinge of guilt – even when he had known he was doing the right thing.

But just this once, he let the diluted streams of red flowing from his hands to the river soothe him as he meticulously washed his claws of the blood coating it. Otherwise, he might have had to face his reflection. It had terrified him the first time he saw it, but he could feel himself growing more comfortable with it as the days went by, and _that_ scared him even more.

The deer's carcass lay to his left. The animal itself had died easily, but it was the feel of his claws dragging down its body in its final moments that stirred his gut uneasily. Had he nearly brought Kagome down the same way? What the hell did it say about a man that he couldn't even protect a girl he cared about from himself, much less from others.

He reluctantly thought back to what Kagome had said about him – no – about the Taisho. He wasn't even sure which one he felt like anymore. It seemed like so long ago that all of this had happened. That she had told him how she truly felt about the Taisho and told him what he had done to her.

The blood was all but scrubbed out from within his own hands. He moved his hands out of the water and let the water settle, daring to look down at the clear blue.

A set of golden eyes stared back. He led his gaze up to the snowy white ears on top of his head, the ones Kagome seemed so fond of. In fact, he thought with a pang, Kagome seemed to be so much fonder of every part of him as a hanyou.

It felt like living a comfortable, strangely natural, and dangerous lie. A lie that, Inuyasha knew with all his heart, would one day blow up in his face so quickly he wouldn't be able to pick up the pieces. While he had promised to leave Kagome, he couldn't leave like this. One, because she deserved to know the honest truth from his mouth. And two, he prayed to the kami that she would hate him less if he told her, and he prayed doubly hard that perhaps that might give him the chance to make things right with her. In the end, it was selfish. He knew that, but it was hard to deny what he really wanted nonetheless.

'I have to tell her the truth,' he decided, shutting his eyes and backing away from the water. 'I have to tell her _everything_.' The thought of her anger with him felt like a knife twisting in his chest. He would be lucky if it were just her anger. He had, after all, taken her help, her food, her hospitality, her care, just _days_ after his coronation – after what he did to her – and she would realize it too.

Maybe she would realize he was trying to be honorable, a stupidly optimistic part of him hoped. Maybe she wouldn't gut him, the smarter half of himself mocked. Well, he would know soon enough.

Dismissing his thoughts, he stood up to his full height and swung the dead deer over his shoulder before taking off on the short run home.

He had barely made it past the first room on the way to the butchering room when he heard her voice ring out.

"...Inuyasha?"

Still carrying the deer over his shoulder, Inuyasha walked into her room, wincing as he saw her wound again. Evidently, the curiosity had been too great and she had taken off the bandages – which, by the way, took forever for him to get on properly.

"How are you doing?" He asked, setting their animal down on the ground so he could move to her side.

However, her eyes never met his. Instead, he followed his gaze and found it on the deer he had just placed on the floor, more specifically on the three claw marks running down its throat.

Immediately his eyes shot back to her, but hers had already looked back down at the exact same claw marks on her own skin.

Inuyasha froze, feeling as if the air in his lungs had frozen and hardened inside him. He didn't need to think about it to realize what she was thinking.

"Kag – "

She cut him off with a look, one that held an imperceptible expression. "What happened, Inuyasha?" She asked, her voice far softer than he had anticipated.

She didn't sound angry...he thought, unsure how to feel about that.

But this was the time, he knew. He was going to keep his conviction, and the fates had presented him with the right moment to do so.

"It was me...I...attacked you after I killed the demons," he admitted with a deep breath, hating the tremor in his voice. Looking away from her piercing eyes, he continued. "I don't remember any of it – I swear I don't – but Jinenji told me I transformed into a demon – a _full_ demon – and...he said I did that to you. I'm...I'm s-sorry," he finished, stuttering over his apology.

His confession sounded meek even to his own ears. Gritting his teeth for the anger that he was sure would come, Inuyasha mentally prepared himself.

"Inuyasha?" Her question was hesitant, but he could tell she wanted him to look at her.

Truthfully, he didn't want to, but he knew he owed her as much so he drew his eyes up from the floor to hers.

"I hope you know I don't blame you," she spoke, her eyes shining understandingly at him.

A dam Inuyasha hadn't even known had been erected suddenly collapsed within him. She...didn't blame him? He looked up at her in shock.

His astonishment obvious from the look on his face, Kagome elaborated, "I felt some other demonic presence in you when it happened." She set the bandages back on the wound lightly, eyes closing just the slightest at the pain. "For all we know, after those two demons were killed, one of them temporarily possessed you."

Something about what she said suddenly struck true as though it hit on some buried memory inside him. No, it wasn't the demons...but something had been watching him. It had reminded him of the night of his coronation – something which made no sense. Still...he hadn't been able to keep from being possessed and that _was_ his fault.

"Kagome," he sighed, knowing that though she appeared to have forgiven him for now, it wouldn't last. "I don't think you're in the right mind right now."

The injured girl gave him a deadpan look. "My mind's working just fine, thanks."

"The medicine is probably messing with your head," he insisted, moving back to the cabinet with bandages to clean his hands in the basin and get her wound wrapped up again. "You need to lie back down so I can redress the cuts."

"Inuyasha, do you even know what the Omeji herb does?"

"Uh...makes you better?"

With a roll of her eyes, Kagome lay back down and let Inuyasha carefully remove the old bandages and rewrap her. "I know what I'm talking about, Inuyasha, and I told you that _I don't blame you_."

"You will." He said simply, averting his eyes.

"Why? Did you want to hurt me?"

"No! Of course not!" He immediately answered, appalled that she could even think that.

"Then _I don't blame you_." She repeated stubbornly. "Get that through your thick head."

She watched as he grumbled in resignation, probably too tired to fight her, and stood up to put butcher the meat. "Fine," he mumbled with a slight shake of his head. He grabbed the deer and swung it over his shoulder, taking a step to leave the room when she interrupted.

"Wait," she called out, suddenly sounding as if she were the vulnerable one. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

He looked back at her, and somehow she got the sense that there was something he was going to say that she didn't want to know. However, he merely nodded. "Yeah. When you got better. In case you were going to kick me out. I wanted to make sure you'd be okay first, since it was my fault and all."

"Oh..." That was surprisingly...sweet in its own way – and she would correct that non-sense about 'his fault' some other time. Kagome's eyes followed him for another moment. "Wait!" She yelled out again, this time a little more frantically and excitedly.

"Come here," she demanded, feeling almost restless at what she was about to do.

"Uh...you know I have a dead animal in my hands right? I should go take care of this," Inuyasha pointed out with a tiny smirk.

Kagome rolled her eyes and tried not to let her anxiety show. "Just put it on the floor for a second. It's not like it's going to run away."

With an exaggerated sigh, he dropped the carcass and walked back over. "Yes, my lady?" He mockingly bowed.

Giggling at his little act, Kagome beckoned him to kneel down to her level. He cocked his head in confusion, but obliged. Then, with Inuyasha a mere foot above her, Kagome mustered every ounce of courage inside her, grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked his lips down to hers.

She didn't bother to wait for him to get over his very evident shock, and shut her eyes to let herself draw him in.

...which didn't take long at all. His utter surprise gone, Inuyasha couldn't help melting into the kiss, letting his inhibitions go and groaning as she parted her lips just enough for him to get a taste. She tasted like everything sweet and warm in the world, her mouth tormenting him with an even more potent form of her scent. Their lips moved against each other tentatively at first, but as they found their rhythm, he grew more aggressive, wanting his tongue to taste every bit of her it could.

'So fucking good...' He moved an arm to the other side of her bed, ready to lean in and show her just how much better it could get when she pulled away. 'Too soon!'

Kagome's eyes opened up just the slightest, taking in the after-effects of her work. His eyes were still closed, and whether he knew it or not, she could hear the small whimper leave his chest when she separated them. She almost wanted to let out a sigh of pure relief at the very obvious signs that he was as happy as she was with her decision to just yank him down and kiss him. 'It wasn't exactly the proper way to do things,' she thought with a light laugh.

At the sound, Inuyasha opened his eyes as well, still utterly perplexed about what had just happened and _why she had stopped!_

"U-uh..mm..."

"You kissed me," she started in a soft whisper, brushing a loose silver hair from his face. "When you transformed," she ignored the way he started to tense, "the first thing you did was kiss me. That's how I know you weren't going to hurt me. That's why I don't blame you."

"I k-kissed you?" He breathed out in complete wonder. He had turned into a full demon and kissed her? That made no sense. Well, he had always wanted to kiss her, of course, and his demon side had something to do with it because ever since the day he had woken up a hanyou, it seemed his attraction to her was only harder to ignore, but still...why would he have kissed her and then attacked her...

"Mmhmm," Kagome nodded absent-mindedly, internally debating whether she should tell him exactly what else he had done, considering he obviously remembered none of it. In the end, she figured that Inuyasha had had enough of a shock as it was for the day. Leaning up a few more inches to lightly touch her lips to his again, she smiled. "You should get to that deer. It _is_ just a dead animal lying on my floor," she teased.

With a shaky smile of his own, Inuyasha nodded and went through the motions again. He made his way out of the door, still processing what had just happened. He had kissed her. As a demon. Then she kissed him in response. And holy hells it had been wonderful; he was almost pissed he missed it the first time. He absent-mindedly raised a clawed finger to his lips, as if he couldn't believe it.

He wasn't sure what this all meant, except that it would make his original plan to leave a hell of a lot harder.

* * *

Author's Note:

*Touga is a common name I see fanfic writers give to Inuyasha's father, and since I don't know whether I missed an episode or page where he is specifically named, I will use this too. Feel free to correct me if you know his actual name.

I don't know if any of you follow my other story Craigslist, but I just realized that the parallels between this chapter and Part Three of Craigslist (which I was writing simultaneously) are uncanny. Except, in this story, Inuyasha actually did the damage (and he doesn't get any nooky [yet XP…] in this chapter).

Blech. AND I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK…OVER A WHOLE YEAR…I WILL TRY NEVER TO DO THAT AGAIN (except I'll probably be even busier next school year…so uh…)! I ended up cutting this chapter a bit short, but I got in most of the stuff I wanted to so it's all good. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!


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